“I Weigh Over 60 Kg But I Am Healthy”: Dancer GABEE Speaks Out Against Following Beauty Standards And Loving Her Body
In an interview with BBC News Korea, dancer GABEE, known for performing on Street Woman Fighter, talked about how she views her body and not following beauty standards.
As the leader of the dance group LACHICA, GABEE is known to show her positive, fierce, and DGAF attitude through her dancing. She made the phrase “Heyyy” a trend through Street Woman Fighter and was known for being unrivaled in dance battles, where she wasn’t afraid to do anything.
Her fierceness not only showed in her dance performances but through the way she views her body. In the interview, GABEE shared that she gave up on being thin and learned to embrace her body for what it is.
I gave up on being thin and having a long, skinny body a long time ago. I’ve had a big butt since I was young. I was made fun of for having a ‘duck butt’ and people would say, ‘Why is her butt so big?’ but now it’s a beautiful thing to have a big butt.
— GABEE
She emphasized the importance of not blindly following beauty standards and trying to change yourself just to fit the standards. Instead, she said it’s more important to understand your body and cultivate the traits you are born with.
If the standards of beauty change with time, it’s pointless to follow it. I was born with something—I think knowing this and knowing how to cultivate that makes a beautiful body.
— GABEE
The dancer boldly stated that she is happy with her weight because she is healthy—and being healthy is beautiful.
There’s no point in me being 163 cm and 48 kg (105.8 lbs). I weigh over 60 kg (132.3 lbs) but I am very healthy. I have a lot of muscle. I have some fat, but I have elasticity, and I’m a healthy person—isn’t a healthy body a beautiful body?
— GABEE
In the entertainment industry, many celebrities are pressured to look a certain way because of the influences of society. Solar of MAMAMOO once spoke out about the harsh reality of body weight standards, stating that she was criticized for gaining weight and criticized for being too thin.
GABEE shared the importance of not looking at your own body negatively but in a positive way instead. She also said that exercising should be done lovingly towards your body rather than wanting to change it because you hate it.
If I don’t think positively about my body and if I say, ‘This part needs to go in more’ or ‘This part needs to be thicker,’ those thoughts won’t leave my mind. I’ve been there. From the start, instead of exercising while thinking, ‘I hate my body and I want to change it,’ we need to say, ‘I love my body; that’s why I want to treat it with love.
— GABEE
GABEE’s views on beauty standards stand out amongst the entertainment industry’s aims to focus on tall and skinny bodies. However, she isn’t the only one who preaches the importance of loving your body the way it is—MAMAMOO‘s Hwasa is known for going against Korean beauty standards and paving her own way.
