If you follow actress Jameela Jamil on Instagram, then you know she isn’t shy about sharing her opinions regarding life and body positivity. More recently, Jamil has gained much attention due to her social media activity focused on calling out celebrities for promoting detox teas. Jamil posted a photo to her Instagram on November 26, which featured her own tweet in which she voiced her anger towards celebrities who promoted these teas. The photo was captioned, “I am so sick of the lies. I was so riddled with eating disorders when I was young. I listened to irresponsible celebrities and bought all these bad products and followed their TERRIBLE and toxic diet tips for how they maintained the tiny weight they were… and I fucked up my metabolism and digestive system for life. I damaged my fertility, I was consumed and mentally ill. I was obsessed and didn’t eat a meal for over three years as a growing teen.” Her caption went on to reveal that she will not stop calling out these celebrities and “tea” companies, until she and her followers are able to, “teach people to be better allies to women and stop selling this not at all medically sound shit and rhetoric to us.”
Jamil, however, has been an advocate for happy living far before the recent detox tea discussions the media is currently reporting on. Well known for her role as Tahani Al-Jamil in the NBC television show, “The Good Place”, Jamil is using her growing fame to promote “life positivity” through her Instagram account @I_Weigh. The account aims to redirect women’s attention from society’s pressures to look perfect, and instead, encourage women to be proud of themselves and the lives they are living.
The hashtag and Instagram account @I_Weigh began as a response to a post published by @themillionlady, a fashion, beauty, and lifestyle Instagram account. The post features the Kardashian and Jenner women photographed and labeled with their weight in Kilograms. Sickened by the idea that “this is how women are taught to value themselves [in kilograms]”, Jamil created @I_Weigh to encourage women to focus less on their physical appearance, and more on the positive gifts and moments life has granted them.
The Instagram page, @I_Weigh, promotes life positivity, and while body positivity may fall into that category, it was not Jamil’s main directive when creating the “I Weigh” movement. “[The] ‘I Weigh Movement’ is not about body positivity.” Jamil tweeted, “It’s about life positivity. It’s about being grateful for and proud of all the things you have, do and are.”
@I_Weigh currently has 235K followers on Instagram, and several celebrities, such as Jamil’s “The Good Place” co-star Kristen Bell, and singer Alesha Dixon, have shown their support for Jamil’s movement through Instagram posts of their own.
The “I Weigh” movement isn’t just for celebrities. In fact, the @I_Weigh Instagram account is filled with reposts submitted by many of Jamil’s followers. Joining the movement is simple. Instagrammers are instructed to choose a photo of themselves (non-edited or airbrushed), write words or phrases starting at the top of the photo, until the bottom, which are aspects of your personality or life in which you are proud of. From there, Instagrammers can post this photo to their accounts or stories while using the hashtag #iweigh.
Jamil’s “I weigh” movement is a refreshing change from past body focused campaigns. It breaks past the discussion of weight altogether and pushes people to reflect on what really matters to them. Whether your passions lie within activism, family values, academic endeavors, or creative desires, the #IWeigh movement is a trend which encourages all individuals to be proud of the life they have built for themselves, and all the steps taken during that journey.
Image Sources:
Image 1: Screenshot of the @I_Weigh Instagram account
Image 2: Screenshot from the @I_Weigh Instagram story
Image 3: Screenshots of posts from the @I_Weigh Instagram account