Billie Eilish used her Where Do We Go? tour as an opportunity to address body shamers and send a powerful message about unrealistic beauty standards through her own short film. The “Not My Responsibility” video finally made its way to YouTube on May 26, and includes a vulnerable narration by the singer where she silences judgements passed about her appearance.
“Though you’ve never seen my body you still judge it and judge me for it. Why?”
“Do you know me? Really know me?” she begins, all while removing layers of clothes on screen and slipping into water. “You have opinions about my opinions, about my music, about my clothes, about my body.”
“So while I feel your stares, your disapproval, or your sigh of relief, if I lived by them I’d never be able to move,” she said. Eilish continued, “Though you’ve never seen my body you still judge it and judge me for it. Why?”
Eilish has been open about her struggles with body image that started in adolesence, and how the public eye has caused her to rely on a baggy wardrobe to feel comfortable. Her video appears to be an important extension of these feelings, where Eilish can finally address her critics on her own terms.
“We make assumptions about people based on their size. We decide who they are, we decide what they’re worth. If I wear more, if I wear less. Who decides what that makes me? What that means? Is my value based only on your perception? Or is your opinion of me not my responsibility?”
