Everything wrong with what the internet did to Demi Lovato
As most people are aware Demi Lovato is a 24 year old activist, author, recording artist, songwriter, actress and philanthropist and in 2010 she had a very public break down at the tender age of 18. In October of 2010 Demi Lovato punched her backup dancer in the face and entered rehab where she stayed until January of 2011. When she was released from the treatment center Demi Lovato made a very conscious decision to use her struggles with mental health to bring awareness and open the conversation on how serious mental health issues actually are.
However what Demi Lovato didn’t know is that being vulnerable and openly speaking up about her struggles with self harm, drug abuse and various eating disorders opened up a door for anyone who needed a target for online abuse. Being a vulnerable young woman who’s in the public eye can be a terrifying thing but Demi Lovato faced it head on, posting revealing pictures on twitter and instagram and having photoshoots in which she posed nude and with no makeup and no editing at all. Demi Lovato gave hope to any woman or man or teenager or whatever and was struggling with accepting themselves for who they are.
But just like that the conversation suddenly turned from positive to negative within the first few months she was back in the public eye. Demi Lovato had (obviously) put on weight because shes been struggling with an eating disorder of course she put on weight but for pop culture that wasnt ok. She was attacked and belittled and its truly sickening to think that there are human beings on this planet who would attack someone who has had a very public battle with body image but it didnt stop there.
For the next 5 years Demi Lovato would be subjected to fat jokes, bullied for her weight, told to starve herself again and thats not ok. The internet has a weird way of attacking and targeting people’s insecurities because people on there want to see others fail. They get a twisted satisfaction out of seeing people like Demi Lovato go back into their old habits and guess what?
In 2013 Demi Lovato almost returned to rehab for her eating disorder.
Another thing Demi Lovato has also been very public about is her self harm and drug addiction. She has also revealed that shes been plagued with suicidal thoughts in the past and what does the internet do? The tell her to harm herself, the send her triggering pictures and tell her that she should’ve killed herself.
Simply because she put on a little weight or is “extra”.
Which lets talk about that. This woman has bipolar disorder. A disorder that is not only manic and depressed moods but people from suffer from it tend to victimize themselves and think every body is against them. They overreact to smaller things and make impulsive decisions. They also get irritated easily and often suffer from anxiety. And although im aware that bipolar disorder affects everyone differently its very obvious that most of the things that people hate Demi Lovato for are symptoms of an illness that she didnt ask for, an illness that isnt curable. It can be controlled with medication and therapy but will never truly go away and bullying for her for showing blatant signs of her illness is ableist as fuck.
So i guess you can understand why I was so upset yesterday when i logged onto twitter and saw something i had feared for a long time. Demi Lovato had been bullied out of her passion. This is a woman who has several times said that without music she wouldn’t have a reason to live and here she was pushed to her breaking point. Demi was abused as a child, she was bullied in school so badly she had to leave and now the one thing that made her feel good was ruined for her. Consider me fucking pissed off.
Demi Lovato has not only been incredibly outspoken about her mental health struggles she’s used her platform to help the greater good. Shes spoken to congress urging them for mental health reform several times. She’s constantly trying to get laws passed to help those struggling. She speaks out about LGBT rights, police brutality, gender inequality and blacklivesmatter when other celebrities just talk about wanting to make a difference she actually is.
Demi Lovato spent her 21st birthday in Kenya building a center for women, she owns not only a treatment center but also a scholarship program for those who can’t afford to get help. She brings her treatment center on tour and holds free motivational workshops for fans and constantly is pushing her fans to “be their best self”. This is a woman who wakes up everyday and not only fights her mental illness but she fights for the things she believes in. She spoke with Obama about immigration reform and also drug reform and she tries so damn hard.
Yes, she makes mistakes. No, shes not perfect and she words things badly but this woman has a heart full of gold. Recently she flew over 11 hours to be with someone who was in a bad place and helped their family have an intervention. This woman was born with an incredible voice and an ability to emote through music that is hard to find in the pop industry. She made a pact with god and said that if he helps her achieve her dreams she would do her best to help people and thats what she’s dedicated her entire life too.
I am truly so angry that the internet has officially destroyed Demi Lovato, a woman who has fought for her life, her career and the things she believes in since she was a little girl.
Demi if you ever see this i admire you so much, i admire your strength and resilience and i truly hope you can see that you are so so worthy, you are so strong, you inspire me to be a better me every single day and i can never thank you enough.
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