Even before she swept at the Grammys and recorded the theme song for the upcoming James Bond movie, Billie Eilish has long been the subject of conversations about body image due to how she dresses.
In an interview with British GQ, Eilish described how she feels “trapped” by the self-image she created.
“Sometimes I dress like a boy. Sometimes I dress like a swaggy girl. And sometimes I feel trapped by this persona that I have created, because sometimes I think people view me not as a woman,” she said.
Eilish continued speaking about her fame, feeling like she “never felt desired” and wore baggy clothes to express that, and explained her aggravation with being “clickbait.”
“I am clickbait at the moment. Anything with my name on it or anything I say or do can and will be used against me,” she said. “I don’t watch people’s [Instagram] Stories, I quit Twitter a couple of years ago.”
She addressed issues about body image in the Not My Responsibility short film she showed during her brief tour that got interrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“If what I wear is comfortable, I am not a woman,” she said in the video. “If I shed the layers, I am a slut. Though you’ve never seen my body, you still judge it and judge me for it. Why?”
Earlier in the week, Eilish shared a heated message about white privilege.
“You are privileged whether you like it or not,” she said. “Society gives you privilege just for being white. You can be poor, you can be struggling.. and still you skin color is giving you more privilege than you even realize. &nobody [sic] is saying that makes you better than anyone. It just lets you live your life without having to worry about surviving simply because of your skin color!! You are privileged!!”
