Lili Reinhart is opening up about one of her biggest insecurities in an effort to “let other women know they aren’t alone.”
“I wish there were more average sized arms represented in mainstream media for women,” the 27-year-old actress tweeted Thursday. “My body dysmorphia has been going crazy because I feel like my arms need to be half the size they are currently?”
“We’ve glamorized these skinny arms that, for most of us, can only be achieved if you’re a literal adolescent,” she continued.
The “Riverdale” star said she can’t imagine “how anyone survives or gets through this life” without having “severe” body dysmorphia nowadays.
“Maybe it’s a cruel amplified version in combination with my OCD, but damn,” she concluded. “The amount of time I’ve wasted thinking about my arms in the last few months is insane.”
Reinhart, who was met with praise in the comments, concluded by saying she just “wanted to throw [her] own thoughts out” in case any other women were feeling down about their bodies.
This isn’t the first time that the “Hustlers” star has spoken out about her body image struggles.
Back in 2018, Reinhart slammed social media critics for saying she was too thin to be insecure.
“Feeling really disheartened by the fact that so many people are saying ‘you’re skinny so shut up about embrscing [sic] your body,’” she tweeted at the time. “As if my body dysmorphia is irrelevant because of how I look to some people. I’m either not curvy enough or not skinny enough to feel insecure.”
She continued, “Mental illness gets worse when people say that you don’t have a right to feel the way you do. That’s where we are dailing [sic]. Do not encourage this behavior. It is destructive. More destructive than you’ll ever realize. You may not understand someone’s insecurity- but respect it.”
Years later, the actress revealed that she felt “intimidated by the physique of [her] surrounding cast mates” while shooting stripped-down scenes on the hit CW show.
“I’ve felt very insecure due to the expectation that people have for women on tv, what they should look like,” she tweeted in 2020. “But I have come to terms with my body and that I’m not the kind of person you would see walking on a runway during fashion week.”
“I have bigger boobs, I have cellulite on my thighs/butt, and my stomach sticks out rather than curves in,” she added. “This is still something I struggle with on a daily basis. And it doesn’t help when I’m being compared to other women.”
However, she noted that she feels like it is her “obligation” to “be strong” and show up as her authentic self for the sake of other women.
“I want other young women to see my body on tv and feel comfort in the fact that I’m not a size 0. And I’m not a perfect hourglass shape.”
