Perrie Edwards of girl group Little Mix is inspiring people to embrace their imperfections.
Perrie posted a picture of herself on Instagram in which her stomach scar is clearly visible. In past interviews, Edwards revealed that she was born with an esophagus that is too small, and had to have several operations to help her be able to eat better. She used to hide the scar but has recently become more comfortable displaying it in pictures and performances.
Perrie’s decision to show her scar has not gone unnoticed. In fact, it is inspiring many young girls to accept, and even, flaunt their own scars.
Thanks to perrie my 8year old goddaughter wanted to show of her life saving scars like her idol ?#bodypositive pic.twitter.com/HBxdk3N2q2
— L2Mae (@L2Mae) June 3, 2017
I’m so tired of seeing people slut shame little mix for showing some skin when in reality they’re inspiring younger girls. This is amazing. pic.twitter.com/11B3yMGgLJ
— SteveBucky (@1DsShadow) June 4, 2017
Moves like this are especially inspiring for stars with young fans. When young girls in particular are primarily subject to images of models and performers that are overly airbrushed and Photoshopped, it is refreshing to see someone in the public eye get real about their imperfections. The importance of representation has been proven time and time again.
Something else I adore about Perrie’s post is the beauty of not captioning it. She wasn’t necessarily posting this picture to say “Hey! Check out my scar!”. It’s just a normal picture, and the scar is just a part of her. As much as I love when celebs take a stand for body positivity, it doesn’t need to always come with a long comment in order to be effective.
Many have criticized the girls for their “revealing outfits” (their words, not ours), but they’re certainly not any more “revealing” than any other singers who take the stage. Not to mention that the group often sings about female empowerment so to focus on what their wearing is ridiculous. How about focusing on their messaging instead of their clothes?
The group was first formed on X Factor, much like One Direction. They debuted their first single “Wings” in 2012, which went straight to number one. They most recently performed the song at “One Love Manchester,” which you can watch here.
