Jessica Simpson Now Has To Explain To Her Kids Why People Bash Her Weight No Matter Her Size
Our weight doesn't define who we are.
@jessicasimpson | Instagram, Kathy Hutchins, s_buckley | Shutterstock Jessica Simpson rose to fame on the cusp of the early 2000s, as both a singer and the subject of an MTV reality show that followed her four-year marriage to fellow former pop star Nick Lachey. Both of those experiences opened Simpson up to intense public scrutiny, which influenced the way she approached parenthood.
Jessica Simpson has to explain to her kids why people body-shame her, no matter what size she is.
In a recent interview with Access Hollywood, Simpson spoke to Kit Hoover about a very particular trap that most women, whether they’re famous or not, have been caught in — the tangled web of critical comments about our appearances never being enough, no matter what weight we are.
The conversation between Simpson and Hoover covered her recent brand partnership with the company PetSafe to the pressure she feels to conform to a particular body type.
After showing photos of Simpson from various red carpets over the past 20 years, Hoover noted, “When you became famous in the 2000s, you were under a lot of scrutiny for any evolution that your body [took], which was so unfair.”
Hoover then asked Simpson how she navigated being criticized for her appearance, wondering if she passed on any lessons to her children about the issue. Simpson explained that the public scrutiny focused on how she looks isn’t a relic of the past, it’s something she’s still navigating.
“My kids see me being still scrutinized, and it’s very confusing to them,” she stated. “They’re like, ‘Well, I don’t even understand this. Why don’t they just say you look pretty, Mom? You look pretty.’”
“I wish I could explain it,” Simpson continued. “I wish I could say that for me it’s gotten better, but it still remains the same and I don't know why.”
Simpson described the rare gift she received as a result of being so harshly judged on her appearance, one that hinges on radical acceptance.
She believes that the changes her body has gone through are actually “a beautiful thing.” Simpson referred to the connection between her clothing line, The Jessica Simpson Collection, and the intense criticism she’s faced about how her body looks.
She stated, “I have been every size. I do understand every body, and every woman and their mentality, and how deserving they are of fashion and style.”
Simpson’s statement essentially declares that all people, regardless of what their bodies look like, deserve to be celebrated for exactly who they are.
She explained that she tells her kids, “You don’t dress for anybody else. You don’t try to look like anybody else. Truly, you don’t have to be any other size.”
She offered an anecdote about her daughter, saying, “Maxwell’s the tallest in her grade. She’s like ‘Should I be insecure?’ I’m like, ‘The fact that you’re asking me if you should be insecure means absolutely not. You’re comfortable, stay comfortable.’”
She maintains that our culture’s hyper-focus on weight takes our energy away from the areas we should pay attention to, believing that “we need to focus on our mentality.”
Simpson said that weight “shouldn’t even be a conversation,” and she’s totally right. Our weight is only one part of who we are. Our health and wellness are defined by way more than any given number on any given day.
Bodies aren’t static entities. Our weight is bound to fluctuate as years pass. Hopefully, with those changes, we, too, are changed, learning to recognize the beauty in those differences.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers celebrity gossip, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.