The Good Place actress and body neutrality advocate, Jameela Jamil is turning 36 today! In honor of her special day, we celebrate by listing her inspirational quotes to live by.
“I am an advocate first, and everything else last.”
Jameela is known for using her platform to advocate for change and being the first to speak on public issues. The British actress and writer has gone through personal challenges herself and is not afraid to share them to the world if it means making lasting change. As a POC queer woman she is still going through all things imaginable (racism, sexism, a disability, chronic illnesses, and mental illnesses) and the actress uses them as fuel for advocacy work.
Jameela grew up deaf until the age of 12, when she went through seven surgeries and partially got her hearing back. She has also been dealing with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, a chronic illness, since 9-years-old. The iWeigh podcast host also struggled with an eating disorder and body dysmorphia in her modeling years and now strongly advocates for body neutrality through her “learning platform.” She encourages body neutrality over body positivity with the hopes that people respect their body without dedicating positive or negative thoughts or energy towards it, “Block, mute, delete, repeat. ANYTHING OR ANYONE that makes you feel bad about the body you are meant to have.”
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“Aim for growth, not perfection”
Jameela wants to be a role model for young women as someone that they can look up to for fighting against all odds as well as continuing to grow and learn, “I believe in progress and I want to be a champion for that.”
Eating more and gaining weight has made my hair thicker and shinier, my skin glowier, improved my immune system, my social life, my attention span, my work capacity and my mental health. What ways did eating disorder recovery improve your life? pic.twitter.com/uLJvuBYGhg
— Jameela Jamil 🌈 (@jameelajamil) October 14, 2021
“Not everyone has to approve of you”
It’s impossible to please every single person. Jameela says, “It’s exhausting trying to be approved of and liked by everyone” and not caring about other people’s opinions of her is “liberating.”
Why am I enjoying my flop era so much? Has anyone else found an odd relief in not having to live up to expectations anymore? I think it’s been good for my health/mind/skin/hair/ego/perspective/career. You make better choices when you succumb to your own floppery and roll with it. pic.twitter.com/bnIa6t0I57
— Jameela Jamil 🌈 (@jameelajamil) July 31, 2021
“Enough of us have to speak up to make change”
The Twitter queen acknowledges the public image of her but cheekingly says, “And sometimes you have to be annoying and attention-seeking in order to instigate that change.”
At the risk of being called annoying. This might help SOMEONE feel a bit less self conscious. Which is worth all of the eye rolling miserable dickheads on this app. ❤️ #EhlersDanlosSyndrome https://t.co/NJCZeiE98w pic.twitter.com/cbCQAk89WH
— Jameela Jamil 🌈 (@jameelajamil) October 7, 2021
“It’s OK to own your successes”
It’s a good trait to be humble but as Jameela says, “we (women) are told to never, ever congratulate ourselves.” Don’t forget to take a moment and cherish your accomplishments.
“I’m not doing this for popularity. I’m doing this so that I can undo the stuff that I saw when I was younger”
The social advocate’s brutally honest social media posts may be striking, but she says the reason why she does what she does is that she is looking out for younger folks and trying to educate them. “Important conversations feel uncomfortable. And therefore we leave young people unarmed.”
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A very happy birthday to Jameela Jamil! And we can’t wait to listen to more episodes from her iWeigh podcast and see her in the upcoming Marvel show She-Hulk!
