In her cover story in Glamour magazine, Demi Lovato does her usual good work of talking about the need for improved access to and awareness of mental-health services. But when it came time to talk about other topics, like, say, Taylor Swift and feminism, the temptation to be petty was perhaps just too strong. “I’m not afraid to talk about the fact that women get paid less than men in the United States and how unfair that is,” said Lovato. “Talking about it at all is doing the work. And I think every woman does her part in some way. But I think in certain situations, certain people could be doing more if they’re going to claim that as part of their brand.”
Not content to stop at that, Lovato then took aim at an unnamed squad for its role in creating unrealistic body standards for women to strive for. “To be honest, and this will probably get me in trouble, I don’t see anybody in any sort of squad that has a normal body. It’s kind of this false image of what people should look like. And what they should be like, and it’s not real,” Lovato said. To the interviewer’s credit, she responds by reminding the singer there are all sorts of “normal” bodies out there, but Lovato doubles down, and also drops a reference (to Swift’s “Bad Blood,” a song generally accepted to be about Swift’s feud with Katy Perry) that makes it fairly clear who she’s taking aim at. “It’s not realistic. And I think that having a song and a video about tearing Katy Perry down, that’s not women’s empowerment,” Lovato said. “We all do things that aren’t, but I have to ask myself, am I content with calling myself a feminist? Yes, because I speak out.”
It appears that Lovato might already be regretting speaking out, however, if her Twitter is any indication.
