Miley's sat down with Marie Claire for its September issue and has made headlines for saying that playing Hannah Montana had given her body dysmorphia--along with a countless number of sad stories about growing up in the public eye. Well, sad how unsurprising it all sounded.
But it was the dysmorphia that really stuck out to me. I realise now, at age 27, that I was exactly the same growing up. I had absolutely no idea what I actually looked like when I was looking in the mirror. For...as long as I can remember. At least from puberty.
Naturally starring on one of the most popular TV shows at the time at age 11 is completely surreal, but that feeling is so relatable, even now.
"I was told for so long what a girl is supposed to be from being on that show. I was made to look like someone that I wasn't, which probably caused some body dysmorphia because I had been made pretty every day for so long, and then when I wasn't on the show, it was like, Who the fuck am I?"
I grew up thinking about how fat I was, pretty much every day. I wish I could remember a day that I wasn't pinching at my stomach or pulling at my thighs. I don't remember even learning what "fat" was, but it's just been a constant my whole life. Thinking about it. Feeling it.
