“I spent so many years beating myself up for an unrealistic body standard.”
Jessica Simpson got candid about the effects of being body-shamed.
The new paperback version of her memoir “Open Book” includes the singer’s diary entries focusing on the scrutiny she received after wearing “mom jeans” during a performance at a chili cookout concert back in 2009.
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“Today my heart breaks because people says I’m fat,” she wrote at the time. “Why does the cruel opinion of this world get to me?”
In another entry, the 40-year-old entertainer recalled how she was just as harsh at criticizing herself.
“Last week I read back to my journals from 1999 and I beat myself up about how fat I [was] before I even gave the world a chance to…”
During an interview with People, Jessica reflected on the pain it caused and how she has learned to move forward.
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“There is a wonderful movement for body positivity now and the response to that portion of my story has been overwhelmingly supportive,” she began. “I don’t think people always realized that there was a human being, a beating heart and working eyes with actual feelings behind those headlines and that words can hurt and stay with you for a lifetime.”
“I spent so many years beating myself up for an unrealistic body standard that made me feel like a failure all of the time,” she continued. “I am still a work in progress when it comes to self-criticism but now I have the tools to quiet those voices in my head when they speak up.”
She added, “I believe in my heart that a healthy body and a sound mind-body connection are what’s truly important and help me accept imperfections as beauty.”
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