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Lizzo Is Sick of Being an Activist Just Because She’s “Fat and Black”

Aaron J. Thornton, Getty Images

Lizzo is iconic just as much for her Grammy Award-winning music as for her pivotal role in the body acceptance movement. But in an appearance on David Letterman’s Netflix series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, the musician revealed that she’s slightly sick of being overly identified with the latter—in other words, that she’s a complex human and would like to be treated as such!

"I'm sick of being an activist just because I'm fat and Black," Lizzo said, according to Buzzfeed. "I want to be an activist because I'm intelligent, because I care about issues, because my music is good, [and] because I want to help the world."

Even though Lizzo has been vocal about her body acceptance journey, she told Letterman that the constant attention she’s received solely for her body can become exhausting—and that goes for both the positive and the negative attention. Obviously, responding to body-shaming trolls sucks, for lack of a more eloquent term. But even people who celebrate Lizzo for doing things like wearing leotards—otherwise known as putting clothes she likes on her body—is also offensive, even if unintentionally so.

Lizzo explained, “It bothered me for a long time that all people could talk about—or think about—was my size.|

"I didn't like it when people condemned me for it, and it also kinda rubbed me the wrong way when I was praised, like, 'You're so brave,’" she said. "They thought that they were complimenting me by saying that I was unapologetic, and I'm like, 'What do I have to apologize for?'"

It’s exactly this willingness to call out reductionism that’s made Lizzo such an integral figure in the body acceptance movement. And it follows, then, that she should be acknowledged for her activism beyond revolutionizing body image: The singer has been politically active, as well. She recently campaigned for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in her native Detroit, where she addressed the importance of voting in the swing state.

“I don’t have to tell you guys that this is the most important election of our lifetime," she told the audience. "Michigan is going to be so crucial, and how Michigan votes is going to be so crucial between trying to make America great again or finally bringing America together."

And, TBH, Lizzo has the troll side of things covered, too. "Especially the people who hate, that doesn't really break my heart,” she said. “Like, I'm fine. I know that I'm beautiful. And I know that I'm a fucking bad bitch. And I'm successful and popping. And I know I'm healthy."

"I know I can outrun any of these bitches in any way, every way. Whether it's physical, mental, spiritual, financial bitch. I'm 'bout to run around your motherfucking bank account. You wanna see me run, bitch? You wanna see me run?"

And that's a better zinger than we could ever hope to come up with ourselves.