We live in an era in which media exposure has amplified voices, for better and for worse. At the same time that artists can speak directly to their fans, constant waves of comments about their bodies emerge, as if those bodies were public property. This culture of body-shaming (verbalizing judgments about weight and appearance) is not only unfair, it is toxic, dangerous, and should never be normalized.
Recently, Mexican actress and singer Maite Perroni, known worldwide for her career and for being a member of the group RBD, became the target of criticism on social media due to comments about her weight. In response, she chose to confront the situation in a direct and transformative way.
In a video posted on social media, Perroni began with an objective and powerful statement: “Hi, I’m Maite Perroni. I weigh 72 kg, and that’s without you having seen me when I weighed 94.” By saying her weight out loud, she is not seeking approval, she is dismantling the perverse logic that believes numbers define worth. What bothers people is not Maite’s body, but the fact that it exists outside others’ expectations. A woman who has gone through motherhood, who is living a different stage of life, who no longer conforms to the frozen aesthetic the public insists on demanding.
By exposing the absurdity of the discussion, Maite highlights how society still feels entitled to monitor, comment on, and judge women’s bodies as if they were collective property. Her statement is firm precisely because she refuses to apologize for being alive, changing, taking up space, and being herself.
International singer Bebe Rexha has also been targeted by comments about her body. The artist has responded multiple times to online attacks, including when internet users began associating her name with the term “weight” in search results.
Bebe explained that she went through a real experience of weight gain after being diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a medical condition that affects hormonal balance and can lead to rapid weight gain. She stated that she “literally gained about 30 lbs [~13 kg] very fast,” something that can be painful and confusing for many women, especially under public scrutiny. Beyond the medical explanation, Bebe also revealed that she suffered a miscarriage due to her condition.
Even so, the revelation did not silence the attacks. Because the problem was never health, it was control. The female body continues to be treated as something that must remain stable, thin, and “pleasing,” regardless of medical diagnoses, physical suffering, or mental well-being. By speaking openly about her condition, Bebe did more than defend herself, she exposed how women still need to justify their bodies in order to be respected.
Another recent case involved Cuban-American singer Lauren Jauregui, former member of Fifth Harmony. After appearing at a The Hollywood Reporter event with Spotify this past weekend, Jauregui was attacked on social media with comments focused exclusively on her body, something that, although unfortunately recurrent for public women, was called out by the artist during a live stream.
During the live stream, she was direct:
Yes, it hurts (…) but at the same time, this is my body, I live in it. It’s the body I sing with, dance with (…) and that is far more important than whether the size of my waist, my breasts, or the distribution of my body fat is acceptable to you.”
This powerful statement highlighted the absurdity of measuring a woman’s worth by her physical appearance, an attack she has already experienced in other public situations, including during Fifth Harmony’s brief return in 2025, when the other members were also subjected to body-shaming.
Lauren also recently revealed that she suffers from PCOS, the same condition faced by Bebe Rexha. Even so, the attacks persist. The diagnosis becomes a footnote; the judgment, the headline. The logic is clear: for part of the public, no explanation will ever be enough as long as the female body does not fit the imposed standard.
Why this is more than an “innocent comment”
The problem is not talking about health or well-being—it is assuming that a woman’s body is, by default, a public topic open to debate and criticism.
When we turn bodies into public talking points, we are saying that talent, trajectory, art, and humanity are secondary to appearance. And this does not affect only celebrities, it echoes in the lives of ordinary girls and women, taught from an early age to measure their worth in the mirror.
Maite Perroni, Bebe Rexha, and Lauren Jauregui are not being “too sensitive.” They are reacting to a culture that insists on remaining outdated. Normalizing this kind of discourse is to perpetuate a daily violence that makes people sick, limits them, and causes harm. Questioning it is not exaggeration, it is necessity. Because women do not owe explanations for their bodies. They only deserve the right to exist in them, without judgment.
Celebrating body diversity is not just an act of kindness, it is an urgent social necessity. And if artists like Maite Perroni, Bebe Rexha, and Lauren Jauregui are opening this dialogue with honesty and strength, it is up to all of us to embrace this conversation with respect and humanity.
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