Drew Barrymore gets super real about not having a “bikini body”
Drew Barrymore is about as real as real can get. Even though she’s been in the spotlight for pretty much her entire life (literally 37 of her 40 years!!), she is down-to-earth, personable, and is never putting up a front for the cameras — which is why she was the perfect choice to test out InStyle‘s very first virtual reality cover. The magazine worked with Jaunt VR, a company which has been “pioneering cinematic virtual reality,” to create a 360-degree tour of Drew’s day in the studio so that the viewer can really get the entire experience.
But what’s really getting us about this cover isn’t the tech — it’s Drew’s commitment to being open and honest 24/7. During the interview, she opened up about her body image, and self-confidence and as always, it was 100 percent refreshing.
Drew straight-up told InStyle that she doesn’t have a “bikini body” (although may we point out that every body in a bikini is a bikini body!), and her comments resonate with MANY of us who feel pressured to have the kind of body deemed as “desirable” by our culture’s narrow beauty standards. But Drew embraces her shape — naturally, with a bit of her characteristic humor. “I am who I am and I just don’t have a bikini body,” she said. “I don’t even have a one-piece body anymore! But I am loving the long rash guard, board-shorts look.”
Even though she tries to stay laid-back, it can be difficult not to get down on herself, she explained. “I’ve beaten myself up about not being a certain thing,” she explained. “If someone says, ‘Let’s go to the beach today,’ my first thought is, ‘F––, what am I going to wear?’ I remember when Amy Schumer was on Ellen, she called her midsection a ‘lava lamp.’ I thought, That was perfect! That’s what I’ve been trying to say. But then I saw her in Trainwreck, and she looked so good in a tiny bra and short skirt. I was like, ‘No, you don’t have a lava lamp.’”
Drew has been super honest about her body image in the past, especially in terms of motherhood and a post-baby body. “After making two babies, holy cow, does your body do some crazy stuff! It’s hard to stay positive and love yourself,” she told Glamour back in March. “You feel like a kangaroo with a giant pouch; everything’s saggy and weird. But you think about how beautiful it is that you’re able to make children.”
And it IS beautiful how a human can create another human —we cannot stress how much we wish THIS aspect of motherhood was talked about, instead of how fast a lady can get back to her pre-baby bod. Or what a woman has to do, what her tricks are, how’s she going to lose her baby weight, etc. The pressures women face to transform back to the shape they had before they got pregnant reflect our culture’s unrealistic beauty standards —but we’re so happy celebrities like Drew (and Olivia Wilde, Amy Adams, and Kate Winslet!) are fighting those crazy standards with their words of self-acceptance and self-love.
As always, we love Drew for always staying true to her rad self and keeping things real, both on and off the camera. Thanks for being an amazing, positive example to girls and women everywhere, Drew, and remember — if you can put a bikini on your body, you have a bikini body!
(Image via Twitter.)
