FEATURE:
Groundhog Day
Why CMAT’s Experience of Body-Shaming Needs to Lead to Change
_________
IT seems that…
we are so slow to progress and evolve in terms of attitudes. More specifically, one hears of far too many cases of sexism, racism, homophobia and misogyny in music. So many artists are subjected to the most vile and abusive views and comments. Women especially are the most vulnerable and attacked. I know that male artists are subjected to body-shaming. It is something that is aimed more at women. It seems to go back to decades-long attitudes that are not exclusive to music. This ‘ideal’ of a body or what someone should look like. I still think we are in an age where white, thin and young artists are the most desirable. Artists like Lizzo have been body-shamed in recent years. It is disgusting that we still have to see and hear such regressive and disgusting comments. It is clear that we are in a pattern where not a lot changes. We see a case of an artist being body-shamed and there are comments pointing out how outrageous it is. Not a lot is learned from it. In terms of how women (and other genders) are portrayed and celebrated. Still, in the mainstream and on most magazine covers, we have artists who have a particular body shape/size. It is rare to see anything different. I hope we live to see the day where full-figured women are celebrated and seen as role models. That body size should not be seen as an issue. I am bringing up this subject, because one of our modern greats, CMAT (Dublin-born Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson), has been subjected to recent body-shaming. She is one of the most talented and distinct artists in the world. Her album, Crazymad, For Me, was released late last year. I hope that it is line for a Mercury nomination later in the year. We will find out which twelve albums are shortlisted next month I think. It would only be right that the albums is among the twelve.
It is such a shame that we have to hear of artists receiving any form of hate and discrimination. Various forms of misogyny are rearing their head time and time again! As NME report, CMAT recently gained a slew of body-shaming comments when a video of her performing at the Big Weekend event got a lot of the wrong type of reaction:
“CMAT has responded after the BBC disabled comments on the video for her performance at Big Weekend due to extensive body-shaming.
The Irish singer-songwriter took to the stage at the 2024 edition of BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend, which was held at Stockwood Park, Luton at the end of last week.
However, footage of her set began to gather unwanted attention online, with many flocking to the post to criticise the musician about her appearance. After being up for less than a week, the BBC then decided to disable comments on the video.
Now, following the decision, Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson herself has responded to the backlash, and shared what it was like to face online abuse.
“Yesterday the BBC had to turn comments off a video of me performing at big weekend because so many people were calling me fat in the comments,” she shared on X/Twitter last night (May 29).
“Today a different video of me at the BRIT awards is going viral on south american tiktok and now people are calling me fat in spanish.”
In a follow-up post, she added: “I didnt realise it was ILLEGAL to have a HUGE ASS !!!! i am GUILTY as CHARGED it is time to lock me up and throw away THE KEY!!!!! By the way i am an award winning songwriter that has released two albums which were received to ‘universal acclaim’”.
yesterday the BBC had to turn comments off a video of me performing at big weekend because so many people were calling me fat in the comments. Today a different video of me at the BRIT awards is going viral on south american tiktok and now people are calling me fat in spanish
— cmat (@cmatbaby) May 29, 2024
It is impressive that CMAT handled the whole thing with humour and calm. She shouldn’t have to. Time and time again, when we see something like this, do people learn?! I know most music fans are kind and respectful, though we still see far too many thinking it is okay to be disrespectful and offensive. Highlighting the fact that an artist is not super-thin or a way they see as sexy and desirable. It is not only musicians that face this. Take a recent article from The Spectator, where actors Nicola Coughlan was body-shamed. That drew reaction from The New York Times and The Guardian. The jist and takeaway from those articles is that we should not have to talk about body size and whether it is seen as acceptable, desirable and fashionable not to be skinny. Retrograde attitudes, like lumbering dinosaurs, cling on. Have we made much progress?! Like ageism and misogyny in the music industry, there is still body-shaming happening that is very damaging and disturbing. Some may see it as harmless, though the comments left by people are demeaning and upsetting. It will pervade this perception that artists like CMAT should not show skin or dress in a way that reveals their bodies. How many women like CMAT are proudly thrust to the forefront as role models?! Think about how women like her are still, in a way, put to the margins. If we want to inspire conversation, inspiration and change, we need to ensure that more is done to promote body positivity.
I hope that the bile that was received after CMAT’s Big Weekend set does not deter her. She is steely and bright – not to mention hugely desirable and incredibly sexy – and will take it in her stride. One never knows how deep comments go. So many women through music have to face this sort of thing constantly. Of course, all genders experience some form of discrimination though, more and more, women are being abused for the way they look or the music they write. Whether that abuse is aimed at their age, looks or simply their gender, the industry is still hot with some of the most horrible and offensive attitudes. It has to stop. One might say what can be done in terms of correcting the course. I have said how there needs to be more media positivity and spotlighting when it comes to body positivity and make it normalised. How all body shapes and sizes are beautiful. If someone is healthy and happy then that should be promoted and discussed. CMAT is someone producing the most amazing music possible. She is witty, intelligent, enormously talented and someone, I hope, who will be making music for decades more. I can see her collaborating with artists like Dolly Parton, Shania Twain, Beyoncé, and more. Not confined to Country or any genre, she is this wide-ranging and brilliant artist whose songs are filled with honour, truth, reliability and wisdom. We need to respect people like her! We need to respect artists across the board. If body-shaming continues and we do not see anything wrong with it – and those who make the comments are free to do it again -, then it is a sense of Groundhog Day. Not only do comments like the body-shaming against CMAT causes damage to their self-worth and mental health. It means that artists might leave the industry, feeling that they cannot be respected and feel safe if they do not look a particular way. We simply cannot…
LET that happen.