March 8 is celebrated as International Women’s Day, celebrating all different shapes, sizes, colors, and kinds of women all over the globe for being powerful, strong, and independent. Many celebrities have posted photos of their female idols including other celebrities, mothers, and friends. Lili Reinhart, the actress behind “Riverdale’s” Betty Cooper, celebrated by calling out Cosmopolitan Philippines.
Reinhart took to her Insta Stories to post a series of photos and text on body positivity after pointing out that Cosmo Philippines had photoshopped the waists of herself and Camila Mendes’ who co-stars with Reinhart on “Riverdale” playing Betty’s sassy, raven-haired best friend, Veronica.
Photo courtesy of Cosmopolitan
Photo courtesy of Reinhart’s Insta Stories
Reinhart wrote on her Insta Stories: “[Mendes] and I have worked incredibly hard to feel confident and comfortable in the bodies that we have. And to see our bodies distorted in an editing process is a perfect example of the obstacles [women] have yet to overcome.”
Photoshopping celebrities has become a routine practice in the magazine industry with editors plumping lips, breasts, and butts in order to make women look as if they conform to highly unrealistic body standards. Seeing women on the covers of magazines with these unattainable figures only worsens how society views womens’ bodies.
Many celebrities have begun forbidding magazines from editing their figures, such as Zendaya, Keira Knightley, Kate Winslet, and more. “We are powerful, beautiful and strong… we aren’t going to hide behind Photoshop to conform to beauty standards,” Reinhart wrote.
Photo courtesy of Cosmopolitan
Photo courtesy of Reinhart’s Insta Stories
Reinhart singled out Cosmopolitan Philippines, writing: “It’s sad that you felt our bodies needed to be slimmed down.” The photos were originally from Cosmopolitan’s February cover shoot for the Riverdale co-stars with a feature story on “the #1 Thing Women Should Never Be Ashamed Of” and “Getting over [Reinhart’s] Biggest Relationship Hang-Up” according to the Cosmopolitan covers. The photos were reused on Cosmopolitan Philippine’s website and Instagram, but with noticeably slimmer waistlines.
Reinhart thanked “the OG” Cosmopolitan for not editing hers and Mendes’ waists. She also encouraged other celebrities and public figures to take a stand against photoshopping any part of their bodies for photos in order to stop the promotion of “an unrealistic body image,” saying that it is “adding to the problem.”
Reinhart’s voicing on the issue of body positivity and accurate representation of women in the media was a perfect message for International Women’s Day, bringing awareness to the fact that women, who have come so far, still have a long way to go.
“So, like every other day,” Reinhart wrote, “women… go kick some ass.”