Lady Bird's Beanie Feldstein Says Stop Complimenting Her Body

Beanie Feldstein is the breakout star of Lady Bird and she’s also starring on Broadway right now in the musical Hello, Dolly!

The 24-year-old actress just wrote an op-ed for Refinery29 about how she naturally has lost weight this year during her Broadway run, despite being at peace with her weight.

Now, Beanie has friends and family constantly complimenting her on slimming down and she says it is diminishing the body confidence she achieved after years of being frustrated with her weight.

“Throughout my childhood and adolescence, I really struggled with my weight. My family, doctors, and society at large were constantly telling me that I was too heavy, that I needed to exercise more, that I should be smaller. I was pushed into trying Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig… and I absolutely hated it. It affected me deeply,” Beanie wrote in the piece. “I despised trying to lose weight and I resented everyone that made me feel like I had to. Finally after years of turmoil (just thinking about shopping for my bat mitzvah dress still gives me hives), something started to change. As I approached the end of high school, I felt the expectations fall away. I stopped trying to eat and look the way everyone else wanted me to. It took time and it happened gradually, but by the time I started college I felt truly comfortable with my body.”

Beanie added that going home to Los Angeles for Thanksgiving last week resulting in her body being the “only topic of conversation.”

“I have to be honest: It really messed with my head. After years of pain, I had finally found such a beautiful peace, one that most people, no matter what size they are, don’t have. And all of those ‘compliments’ took that away from me. After years of finally not feeling judged by myself or others, all of a sudden I felt so seen,” she wrote.

“So here’s my simple request: Please stop complimenting me! A person’s body changing is simply not clearance for you to talk about it. I know that nothing will truly change until we as a society are able to unravel the ingrained notion that thinness is ideal. However, I do hope that on a more interpersonal level, we can attempt to stop commenting on each other’s bodies,” she said.

Read the full piece on Refinery29.com.