Rita Ora has a new interview with The Sunday Times to promote her role as judge on The Voice UK. Rita’s been juggling her pop star duties with this judge gig and working on launching her acting career. She’s reportedly a “breathtaking” actress according to Harvey Weinstein, but we know all about Harvey and his Marchesa ambitions. Rita’s not a triple threat or anything. She does have hustle, and she’s growing on me. In this interview, Rita talks about body insecurities and lack of confidence. I was with her until she generalized about all females:
Her troubled confidence: “I dyed my hair when I was 14 to make me feel sexy. But I’m a female, and females will never be comfortable in their own skin: I feel I’ve got a muffin top, that I can work on my butt. I try to stay healthy.”
Ballet classes didn’t help: “Every Thursday, we had to wear tight clothing for ballet. You could see every bump and curve. And me and this other girl were the only ones who had breasts early on, and I’d try to cover them, hunching my shoulders. That is why my posture is still sh*t.”
She’ll never write about her ex-boyfriends: “I don’t think I care enough about them to write a song about them. I will be unleashed but I know my limits.”
[From The Sunday Times]
Not every single woman feels uncomfortable in her skin. Sure, more women than men worry about body image, but there are wholly confident women in this world. I’ve known a couple of them really well over the years. Not me, of course. I do have that one pesky body part in need of improvement, but let’s change the subject.
Should we give Rita credit for vowing to never write about Rob Kardashian or Calvin Harris because smear songs? Smear songs are so overdone. But Rita doesn’t really write her own songs. That’s why Calvin was able to spitefully call the shots over the songs they recorded together. He wrote almost everything.
Oh, and did you realize that Rita is now an Oscar-nominated singer? Sort of. She and Diane Warren received a nod for their song, “Grateful,” from Beyond the Lights. The only problem is that Rita’s name wasn’t included on the official list of nominees. Coincidentally (or not), Rita hasn’t promoted this nomination, and Diane is miffed at Rita (who will perform the song at the Oscars). Drama.
Photos courtesy of WENN
I’m feeling pretty comfortable.
Yeah, me too.
I’m very comfortable in my own skin. But I also realize that there are many others who are not.
Ditto….my first thought when I read the headline was ”speak for yourself…”
I like her.
Paging Tracy Anderson!
Rita just needs to grow up a bit. When I was in my 20s I had appearance angst but the older I get the less it matters. It’s just not that important. I dress nicely, keep the weight off, and have a flattering haircut but other than these basic grooming things, I spend almost no time worrying about my appearance. There are much more enjoyable or important things to worry about.
She should get outside herself a bit, too. Maybe do some volunteer work with people or animals that need help. She might realize her true blessings.
Yes, she’s not allowing for emotional growth. But she’s still quite young. I hope she reaches a point in her life where she accepts who she is, flaws and all. I try to look my best, but my best isn’t Angelina Jolie, and I’m fine with that. Get ready and go have fun.
With other women making that hard, no no they won’t. However, I am comfortable in my own skin for the most part! I don’t care about trends and what celebrities With myopic world view have to say about my body or what women should do, want, or think. Ironically, in my opinion, the more celebs rant about feminism, the worse they make it and it’s women doing it!
Okay commence sharpening your knives. I’m ready.
Women AND men place high value on how a body looks/is supposed to look. Sadly this can escalate for some people in judgement and bullying.
Sad how you started with making this about women yet also saying that you are comfortable and then ending with pulling in feminism (while you’re at it, why not I suppose *sigh*) and expecting vitriol from…women. Glad you are comfortable but you don’t have to stereotype and simplify a highly complex issue. Your whole comment is not women-friendly despite your self-confidence. If it doesn’t bother you, then why do you expect it and pinpoint women as the main culprits?
Yeah, I don’t think this is an issue that can be entirely blamed on women. On most other celebrity gossip sites if a famous woman is being discussed and her body doesn’t conform to some ideal, you’ll see men in the comment section picking her body apart as much as, and often more than, the women commenters. Maybe it’ll be because she has some visible body fat, or because she’s overweight, or because she doesn’t have a perfectly flat stomach or perfect legs, her boobs aren’t big enough or perky enough, or because her butt isn’t big enough, etc. And MRA & misogynist types (little difference between the two) love to defend and whine about why they should have the ‘right’ to body-shame women without being criticized for it.
Well, I feel entirely comfortable in my own skin. Frankly, I think it’s a lazy thing. There’s nothing improvable about my appearance that I care enough about to pause doing more interesting things to, well, improve it.
I feel old. I want to know why everybody is saying “females” now. All the Sixlets’ little friends – boys and girls – say it. What’s wrong with women? Or girls? Or comets?
It’s classy and sophisticated, Like Ron Burgundy with a Comet Sophie in hand.
It bugs me so much. Like a female adult is a WOMAN, why refer to women as ‘females’ the whole time? I also thought it was a male thing to do which would make me side-eye that person so much (misogyny or lack of formal education?) but I see women are doing it too now. It needs to stop.
I think people use the term ‘females’ when they’re not just talking about grown women, but also little girls, teenage girls, and preteen girls along with them. Or at least that’s how I use it. I see the term ‘males’ also used in the same way, when someone is describing grown men, teenage boys, little boys, preteens, etc. To me using ‘males’ or ‘females’ in that way isn’t offensive.
I am comfortable in my own skin and much older than her but when I was her age def. MORE comfortable. I think she was / is much prettier when she is more natural.. less is more. well at least in my opinion. I don’t really care for her music.
Speak for yourself lady. Nobody is perfect and we should learn to love ourselves regardless.
And they shall continue to do so until they cease to address themselves as “females”. Just a thought.
That’s a very good point, actually. Too much generalisation on her part speaks volume of her insecurity.
Good thought. It jumped out at me when I saw the title.
The only thing I paid attention to was that she is making an enemy of Diane Warren. I feel that is going to come back and bite her.
She seems to make enemies of the hit makers wherever she goes.
Ballet class will do that to you.
I do dance training, and every time I venture into a ballet class, which I have to take if i’m to improve in other types of dance training, I come away loathing my body.
It’s the concentration on making yourself as lean, as small as possible with no bumps, natural or otherwise.
I can’t stand the “female” talk. I heard it a lot when I was in the military 20 years ago. They certainly didn’t refer to the men as “males”. It was men and females. Why? I think it’s a way to minimize a woman’s sexuality and humanity. It’s also a way to create an “otherness” status for women. Think about it.
We have male and female animals. But only humans are men and women. What do you think of when you hear “the female species”? You don’t think of women. You think of some sort of animal.
How often do you ever hear men refered to as “males” in popular society? Never.
My goodness. This is a huge peeve for me. I am a woman. Please don’t refer to me like I am just a female animal.
Few Things I hate more than that “Female” sh!t… we are more than Body Part assignations FFS
+ a million.
Booboo- YESSSSSS.
Reading these comments, it is good to know I’m not alone in hating the increasing usage of ‘female”! It carries such a dehumanizing connotation, as if whoever one is talking about is an animal or something (something not quite human). Woman, girl, lady… I understand that “female” captures more age ranges and can be appropriate in good syntax (like female acquaintances, suspects etc), but for general use like this… ugh!!! It’s a word whose use I tend to associate with misogynists, for that dehumanizing dimension. I’m in my early 20s and I hear it so much, and it’s really surprising because my bubble of existence is centred around being a law student at a top UK university (we are exposed to equality in language and labels etc everyday so it shouldn’t be a commonly used word)..
**rant over, really just have wanted to air my feelings about its increasing colloquial use for a while now!**
This! I thought I was the only one who got an involuntary eye-twitch whenever I heard people (usually a man) talking about females.
I like the word female because it makes me feel like Iron Man.
I myself use the words male and female for humans with no ulterior motive. It just covers all the age ranges. I don’t associate it with disrespect. I agree that both terms can also be used disrespectfully, though. It depends on the context and how it’s said. I’ve heard men use the word “female” at least semi-pejoratively, but they do the same with “woman”.
What really bothered me in my younger days, though, was the habit of appending the adjective “lady” to things: lady pilot, lady bus driver, lady postal carrier. It just told us that we don’t really belong so our presence has to be singled out. The same people wouldn’t say “man bus driver”. Although the term “male nurse” indicates a similar problem in reverse, since people don’t say “female nurse” very often, even though it can be a legitimate distinction in various medical contexts. I’ve heard men who are nurses say how uncomfortable it was that the assumption was always female as the norm: pronouns, pictures in textbooks, etc. Welcome to my world! In my profession, only a few percent of us are women.
Of course, I do sometimes refer to Junior Cat as a woman-cat (as opposed to a girl-cat, she passed that category a year or so ago) and her dad as an old man (which he is, 16 years old). This seems to confuse a few humans. But Junior Cat is indeed a full grown woman-cat now, in all her feline splendor.
Dear Rita,
Please read Viola Davis’s interview.
I can’t fully explain why, but I really like her. She’s young and says dumb stuff sometimes, but most of us did at that age.
I am so confused by Rita Ora.
She has so much star quality and charisma. I’m not a fan but the few things that I’ve seen of her has really impressed me. Niki Minaj was totally eclipsed during her SNL black widow performance. And then I saw one other interview with her on an entertainment news show. She came across super cute but also smart and articulate.
But then, why is her life so drama- filled!? Also the fact that she used to date Rob Kardashian just repulses me.
Really? I find her to be the total opposite. Completely dull, generic and forgettable. She just annoys me for some reason. Idk why – she’s not as stupid as other pop stars and she really can sing. But there’s something about her that just irks me.
I like her too. She’s charismatic and seems like a genuinely nice person. I think she’s a little immature in some aspects, but she’ll get better with age & experience. She stole the show from Iggy Azaelia, not Nikita Minaj. Lol.
Haha…thanks Jodie. A lot of the new pop stars blend together for me.
Every morning, I read this site while drinking my coffee & trying to wake up (so not a morning person!) Always snoop the comments, but have never commented. Until now. RITA ORA: I am 28, and I am more than comfortable in my own skin. I LOVE MY BODY. Every last inch of it. I appreciate it and respect it and I VALUE it. I’ve seen it grow and birth babies and support life and after all that, I feel like a warrior tigress who knows this POWER of the female body. This generalization is insulting & sends a terrible message, especially to young girls. Females will NEVER feel comfortable in their own skin?!?! Are you kidding me??????? Thanks Rita, I didn’t even need my coffee, I’m wide awake now. Angry face. I guess my comment virginity is taken.
Well, I’m 53 and STILL trying to look like a 35 year old size two. I think she makes a good point. Maybe not for the women on this site though. ; )