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| Billie Eilish: Sexual misconduct is everywhere |
In an interview with Vogue, she said she doesn't "know
one girl or woman who hasn't had a weird experience, or a really bad
experience".
"And men, too - young boys
are taken advantage of constantly," she said.
Vogue interviewer Laura Snapes
wrote that it also "happened to Eilish when she was younger", but
added, "the details are hers."
The Grammy award-winning, American singer-songwriter, 19, was discussing her new single Your Power, which is about an abuser taking advantage of a minor.
"It's an open letter to people who take advantage - mostly
men," she said.
She also unveiled a new look in her photoshoot for the magazine,
using it as an opportunity to hit back at those who discuss what she wears.
Describing the look as "classic, old-timey pin-up", the
star's signature black and green hair is now platinum blonde (although
the blonde color first appeared a few weeks ago).
She said the color change made her feel "more like a woman,
somehow".
Eilish's previous baggy style of dress has often been hailed as refreshing when compared with that of other famous women who wear tighter, more revealing clothing, but Eilish told the magazine her dress sense was more about the onlookers' issues than her.
"Don't make me not a role model because you're turned on by me," she told Vogue, adding that her body "was the initial reason for my depression when I was younger".
"Suddenly you're a hypocrite if you want to show your skin,
and you're easy and you're bad. If I am, then I'm proud.
I and all the girls are hoes. Let's turn it around and be empowered by that.
Showing your body and showing your skin - or not - should not take any respect
away from you."
She said it was a male problem, not a female one.
"I really think the bottom line is, men are very weak,"
she says. "I think it's just so easy for them to lose it. 'You expect a
dude not to grab you if you're wearing that dress?' Seriously, you're that
weak? Come on!"
My baggy clothes shouldn't slut-shame others
The 17-year-old says people think she's "saying no to being
sexualized" but for her, that's not true.
Billie spoke about her fashion choices to Pharrell Williams in an
interview for V
Magazine.
"The positive comments about how I dress have this
slut-shaming element. Like, 'I am so glad that you're dressing like a boy, so
other girls can dress like boys so that they aren't sluts'," Bille said.
"That's basically what it sounds like to me. And I can't overstate how strongly I do not appreciate that, at all."
She thinks people sometimes assume what she's wearing is a statement
against being a "stereotypical female".
"The way I dress is very not necessarily feminine, or girly,
or whatever.
"I don't say, 'Oh, I am going to wear baggy clothes because
it's baggy clothes, it's never like that. I wear what I want to wear."
Billie thinks rather than talking about how much or how little a
woman is wearing, it should be more about how comfortable they feel.
"I have always supported and loved when a woman or a man or
anyone in the world feels comfortable in their skin, their body, to show just
whatever they want.
"I don't like that there's this weird new world of supporting
me by shaming people that don't want to dress like me."
Billie loved fashion growing up but thinks her fame plays a role in
how people see the way she dresses.
"I have always been a person that wants to dress loud. I've
always wanted people to look up at me, I've always wanted people to notice
me," Billie said
"I'm just walking around dressed how I always wanted to but
now there's a name attached to that."
It's not the first time she's talked about her fashion sense,
having spoken to Rolling Stone magazine about struggling
with body dysmorphia.
But she says those around her are the reason she's so comfortable
in herself - especially given she was 13 when approaching music labels.
"There has been a whole world of young, especially female artists, being used and manipulated by the stereotypical label or industry," Billie said.
"I am really, really lucky and grateful that I have had the
experience I had with my label and with my team and everyone.
"I never had any issues with people trying to pull me in a
different direction, one in which I would not want to be headed."
That's everything from the music she makes to the clothes she
wears.
"I have always been the kind of person that knows what I want,
and if it's not what I want, then I am not going to do it."
Billie Eilish tackles body shaming as her world tour kicks off in Miami
Popstar Billie Eilish delivered a powerful message about body
shaming as she kicked off her world tour in Miami on Monday night.
The 18-year-old has previously
said she wears baggy clothes to avoid being sexualized and addressed
criticism of that choice during a video interlude.
"If what I wear is comfortable, I am not a woman," she
said. "If I shed the layers, I am bad".
"Though you've never seen my body, you still judge me for it.
Why?" she asked.
The two-minute video was played towards the end of Eilish's 22-song
set, immediately before the song All The Good Girls Go To Hell.
In the visual, Eilish was seen removing several layers of clothing
until she was only wearing a bra, before sinking symbolically under the surface
of a black, tar-like liquid.
At the end of the clip, she warned against making "assumptions
about people based on their size".
"We decide who they are. We decide what they're worth," she said. "If I wear more if I wear less, who decides what that makes me?
"Is my value based only on your perception? Or is your opinion
of me, not my responsibility?"
The interlude was just one element of a spectacular live show which
began Poltergeist-style, with Eilish dangling on wires underneath a floating
bed.
After falling through the stage, she emerged on a riser at the end
of a catwalk to perform Bury A Friend, before running through tracks including
You Should See Me In A Crown, Ocean Eyes, and her Bond theme No Time To Die.
She played Copycat from a floating walkway above the stage and showcased her piano skills during a brief instrumental at the keyboard.
During the concert, the five-time Grammy-winner dressed in her
traditional baggy clothes - with a green sequinned shirt that matched her
shorts and black Nike high-top trainers.
For the uptempo songs, she bounded up and down the catwalk, her
vocals frequently drowned out by the crowd.
Coronavirus permitting, the tour comes to Europe in July after a
38-date trek across North and South America; with dates scheduled in
Manchester, Birmingham, and Manchester.
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