Billie Eilish’s short film ‘Not My Responsibility’ sends a powerful message to her body shamers.
Global (28 May 2020) – Billie Eilish released a powerful short film that addresses body shaming and the sexualisation of young women.
In the project, titled “Not My Responsibility,” which first debuted during her “Where Do We Go?” world tour, the 18-year-old pop music superstar carefully disrobes as she responds to negative image comments strewn her way about her figure and her choice to don baggy clothing as a mechanism of defence to the hate.
She starts by questioning, “Do you know me?” and asks a series of questions about how people perceive her and may want her to be and act. “Would you like me to be smaller? Weaker? Softer? Taller? Would you like me to be quiet? Do my shoulders provoke you?”
Eilish has been one of many women throughout the music and entertainment industries championing the idea of body positivity and recently spoke out to Dazed magazine about being hammered with insults and trolled by people on social media who have both criticised her for covering up and chastised her for putting herself out in the open.
Watch the powerful video here:
Here are the full lyrics:
do you know me?
really know me?
you have opinions
about my opinions
about my music
about my clothes
about my body
some people hate what I wear
some people praise it
some people use it to shame others
some people use it to shame me
but I feel you watching
always
and nothing I do goes unseen
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
would you like me to be smaller?
weaker?
softer?
taller?
would you like me to be quiet?
do my shoulders provoke you?
does my chest?
am I my stomach?
my hips?
the body I was born with
is it not what you wanted?
if I wear what is comfortable
I am not a woman
if I shed the layers
I’m a slut
though you’ve never seen my body
you still judge it
and judge me for it
why?
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
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