MANILA, Philippines — Singer-actress Camila Cabello has opened up about the numerous times she has been photographed by paparazzi while she was in a swimsuit, saying she felt "super vulnerable and unprepared."
In a lengthy Instagram post, Cabello said that whenever she sees pictures of herself posted online, she has to remind herself that they affect the culture's thoughts and not her own.
"A culture [that] has gotten so used to an image of what a 'healthy' woman's body looks like that is completely not real for a lot of women," Cabello wrote, citing that Photoshop, restrictive eating, over-exercising, and angling make a difference in how a photograph will appear.
Cabello says she is talking about it now because "we see pictures of women and praise them for looking good, for looking fit or 'healthy' but at the cost of one's mental health where they can't enjoy their lives."
"Who am I trying to look attractive for and am I even attractive to myself if I can't let loose and relax and have fun," she also said.
The singer added that such thoughts are getting loud in her head, and her therapy is guiding her to think back to her younger self at the beach where she felt free.
"Emotionally, the messaging I get from our world is loud in my own head. Ironically, all the therapy, all the inner work is to try and get back to feeling like 7-year-old me on the beach," she shared. "Happy, silly, breathing, pretending to be a mermaid, FREE."
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