Camila Cabello has hit out at the paparazzi and unrealistic beauty standards in a lengthy Instagram post.
Over the weekend, the 25-year-old singer was snapped coming out of the ocean at a Miami beach club. Following the release of the images online, she slammed photographers and societal pressures to always look good, saying she has "never had a worse time at the beach."
The singer began the post by explaining that she often gets photographed at this particular beach club. "I’ve felt super vulnerable and unprepared – I’ve worn bikinis that were too small and paid no mind to how I looked, then saw pictures online and comments and been so upset," she wrote.
"I reminded myself when it impacted my self-esteem that I was thinking the culture’s thoughts and not my own. A culture who 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 continued.
The former Fifth Harmony singer is getting ready to release her third studio album, 'Familia', on April 8. She went on to say that as a "single woman in her 20s in the middle of a s*** ton of [album] promo," she had tried hard to look good for the cameras on this occasion.
"Today I got a new bikini, a whole f***in cute outfit, put lip gloss on, and didn’t eat anything too heavy before going in the OCEAN cause I knew it was gonna be basically a whole photoshoot," she wrote, in reference to the animal print bikini, she can be seen rocking in the snaps.
However, she explained that trying to look good only made the experience worse: "I held my core so tight my abs hurt and didn’t breathe and barely smiled and was so self-conscious of where the paps were the whole time I couldn’t let go and relax and do what we’re meant to do when we go out into nature."
Towards the end of the message, Cabello told her followers that she wanted to be more like the kids playing on the beach in the future, and "get back to feeling like 7 year old me on the beach" who was "happy, silly, breathing, pretending to be a mermaid, FREE."
She explained that trying to fulfill unrealistic beauty standards would never leave you happy, writing: "I knew I looked 'good' in the pictures and thought I would feel accomplished and yet I’ve never had a worse time at the beach."
Unsurprisingly, Cabello's famous pals were quick to shower the post with love, taking to the comments section to praise her words.
Paris Hilton said that the post moved her to tears, adding: "Thank you for writing this, so important for people to hear. You are beautiful inside and out."
Meanwhile, Emily in Paris star Lily Collins commented her support: "I feel you and am sending all the love and positive vibes your way."
