18 year old singer Billie Eilish recently released a new video talking about body image. She asks, ‘If I wear more, if I wear less, who decides what that makes me, what that means?’ It’s a powerful video, with that signature dark vibe that characterises Eilish’s music. It explores her awareness that everyone is going to have an opinion on her body. She admits, ‘I feel you watching. Always.’

And who can blame her for thinking about it? How many of us can honestly say we don’t care what people think of our bodies? Everywhere you look, there are pictures of perfect people, imploring you to compare yourself to them all. They’re on adverts and billboards in just about every built-up public place, and even during isolation away from public places, the Internet is always willing to provide for you (I’m looking at you, Instagram). Everywhere, there are photos selling you perfection. And, crucially, the idea that you have not achieved it yourself.

Everyone seems to feel the pressure, even the people in the pictures. Taylor Swift has struggled with disordered eating, and the ‘fucking impossible’ beauty standards she feels expected to constantly live up to. Robert Pattison has experienced body dysmorphia, saying ‘I never want to take my shirt off. I’d prefer to get drunk.’ Billie Eilish similarly has chosen to wear a distinctive style of baggy clothes that do not show her figure off, to avoid judgement.

The thing is, every time another celebrity reveals that they have struggled with body image issues, it feels too familiar to even be particularly surprising. It is all so very relatable. Celebrities may be subject to a bigger spotlight, but in a world of social media, we all feel our own personal spotlights amping up the pressure to always look flawless. In 2020, worrying about how to present your potentially inadequate body to an unforgiving world is a universal problem.

So what is to be done? Ultimately, Eilish’s new video concludes with the message that she has decided not to care what people think. It ends with her proclaiming that other peoples’ opinions are ‘not my responsibility.’ She will triumph by wearing whatever the hell she wants to wear, and presenting her body however she wants, and damn anyone who has anything bad to say about it.

Stopping caring about something that pop culture tells us is vitally important is obviously easier said than done. But maybe it is time to give yourself permission to stop obsessing over it. Why does it matter whether you live up to some vague, fictional concept of a ‘perfect’ body? Opinions on your body only have as much power as you allow them to have. We shouldn’t allow perceptions of the ‘ideal’ body to so greatly affect our self worth. There is a whole world of people and places and ideas out there for you to explore, and a lot of it actually has nothing to do with your body, or what the world may or may not think of it. Wear whatever clothes make you feel good, of course. But there is liberation in realising that your body does not have to define you.