Lizzo has posted an unedited nude snap in a bid to change "the conversation about beauty standards".
Lizzo
The 'Truth Hurts' hitmaker has joined Dove as a brand ambassador for 'The Selfie Talk' campaign, and shared the naked selfie to inspire her millions of followers to embrace their natural beauty.
She captioned the picture on Instagram: "WELCOME TO TAURUS SEASON To celebrate I wanna give y’all this unedited selfie.. now normally I would fix my belly and smooth my skin but baby I wanted show u how I do it au natural — I am excited to be partnering with @dove and the #DoveSelfEsteemProject which is helping to reverse the negative effects of social media and changing the conversation about beauty standards. Let’s get real y’all (sic)"
As part of the beauty brand's Self-Esteem Project, the campaign aims to highlight how dangerous social media and filters can be in making young people not feel "good enough or worthy of likes".
In a statement, Lizzo added: “I love how this generation is so creative in the ways in which they express themselves.
“It’s really inspiring to see how people are taking their identity and their beauty into their own hands. However, people are struggling with their self-image and self-confidence more than ever. This is amplified by the increasing pressure to show a digitally distorted version of ourselves, reinforcing the idea that our beauty in real life is not good enough or worthy of likes. That’s why the Dove Self-Esteem Project and I want you to have ‘The Selfie Talk’ with a young person in your life. It’s happening to young people everywhere, so let’s talk about it.”
The Grammy-winner has promoted body positivity since soaring to the top of the charts, but she recently revealed that she would rather be recognised for her music and beliefs as opposed to her figure.
Lizzo explained: "It bothered me for a long time that all people could talk about or think about was my size.
"I didn't like it when people condemned me for it and kind of rubbed me the wrong way when I was praised. Like 'you're so brave!'
"They thought they were complimenting me by saying I was unapologetic. I was like 'What do I have to apologise for?'"
The 32-year-old musician also declared she was "sick of being an activist because [she's] fat and black".
She said: "I want to be an activist because I'm intelligent, because I care about issues, because my music is good, because I want to help the world."
And the 'Juice' singer hopes to "normalise" her body.
She explained: "I would like to be body-normative. I want to normalise my body. And not just be like, 'Ooh, look at this cool movement. Being fat is body positive.'
"No, being fat is normal. I think now, I owe it to the people who started this to not just stop here. We have to make people uncomfortable again, so that we can continue to change."