American rapper, singer, songwriter, flutist, and actress Lizzo has broke the internet through her creativity and confidence. She not only displays herself so confidently, but she lets her fans know that they too are Special.
Lizzo continuously explains how she has faced hate from being plus sized, black, and female since she was young. But what makes Lizzo stand out?
Lizzo actively demonstrated acts of inclusivity among different body sizes and shapes. Lizzo is currently on her The Special Tour. The cool thing about her tour is that her backup dancers include women of different ethnicities, plus-sized women, and trans women. Lizzo handpicked talented and dedicated dancers for her tour and turned it into a show on Prime Videos called Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls which was Emmy nominated 6 times. (I honestly don’t like reality tv but this show is INSPIRING)
Lizzo even has her own shapewear brand called Yitty. Yitty is an inclusive shapewear brand for people of different sizes, colors, and gender identities. On a Hot Ones challenge video, she explains how she started the brand to make clothes for herself, and how she decided to share it with others. Lizzo actively promotes her diverse brand to all of her social media platforms to her fans and viewer.
But why does any of this matter?
All of Lizzo’s work goes against the standards of what the typical celebrity is supposed to be. Unlike most famous people, Lizzo puts in so much effort to show love in the world. She has so many inspiring and lovely songs (I’ll have a few links of my favorites at the end).
We notice that in commercial media, when trying to sell shapewear, or any clothing in general, the demonstration of color or plus sized people would not be common to most companies trying to sell their brand. This goes back to beauty standards. The American beauty standard are in favor of skinny or “buff” people. However, Lizzo has been able to see this flaw in commercialized media, so she decided to take a different approach.
Lizzo is a star example of using media for good. She uses her music platform, social media platforms, and business platform to promote the message that no matter who you are, you are Special.
Links to Lizzo music videos/ performances
Communicating Change 