Rowan Blanchard Opens Up About ‘Self-Loathing’ Her Body Because of Media Growing Up

Rowan Blanchard may be known as one of the most “woke” voices of Generation Z, but even she isn’t immune to body insecurities caused by weight loss-centric magazines growing up. In an interview with Coveteur, the 16-year-old actress opened up about “self-loathing” her body due to frequent media messages telling her and other women that they need to lose weight.

The former Disney Channel star landed on the topic of insecurities when she was asked about her message to young women who are struggling with their body image. Blanchard admitted that she is in the same camp as the teenagers who look up to her, and that she doesn’t have a clear-cut answer on how to deal with body insecurities.

“I mean, I feel that pressure to look a certain way [too], so I don’t feel totally exempt from this or like I have this figured out,” she said. “Specific advice I give myself whenever I feel very insecure, or insecure about my body, or how I look in a dress—all of these things—I try to tell myself that a lot of it is in my head. This is a hard one, because I’m still a teenager who’s insecure every day.”

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Source: Instagram

The “Girl Meets World” actress predicted that a lot of insecurities among young women come from magazines telling them that they “have to look a certain way.” Blanchard revealed that she is also susceptible to media messages, which seep into her brain that she needs to look “fit” or obtain a “bikini body.”

“I think we feel that pressure to look a certain way because we were told we have to look a certain way, so it’s only natural that we feel like we have to,” she said. “I grew up with a lot of magazines that were marketed towards teens that had headlines about how you can lose weight, or how you can look ‘fit,’ or how you can get a ‘bikini body.’ Those types of headlines inherently breed that sort of self-loathing young women already have.”

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Whether you’re 16 or 50, everyone has insecurities, especially with their body. Good on Blanchard for speaking out and showing that even “woke” teens aren’t immune to negative media messages.