English singer/ songwriter Sam Smith recently sat down with Jameela Jamil for a candid interview about body image and gender identity. Jameela, a self-described ‘feminist in progress’, is also the creator of the @i_weigh movement. The I Weigh community values people on their achievements and attributions rather than what they weigh or how they look.
The interview I Weigh in Conversation with Sam Smith, Smith discusses his struggle with body image. The singer states that as long as he can remember he has struggled with body image. He recalls a recent holiday where he describes for the first time ever he had a “surge to fight against his issues rather than being a victim to the them”. It was at this point that he felt he can’t keep living like this and started actively seeking help and researching body positivity. Sam also reflects on bullying in school and reveals that at the age of 12 he had liposuction on his chest.
In the interview, he also opens up about gender identity. At the age of 16, he reveals he stopped wearing men’s clothes, instead he would wear leggings and a full face of make- up to school. On discussing the gender identity, Sam said the following
I’ve always had a little bit of a war going within my body and my mind.
I do think like a woman sometimes, in my head. Sometimes I’ve questioned ‘Do I want a sex change?’
It’s something I still think about, like, ‘Do I want to?
When hearing the term non-binary, which refers to any gender that is not exclusively male or female, he felt this is something he identified with.
