7 times women in Hollywood pushed back against the pressure to lose weight

The INSIDER Summary:

• It is definitely not a secret that Hollywood actresses are sometimes pressured to lose weight for rolls.
• Women are now fighting back against the unrealistic body image they are asked to portray.
• Individuals including Jennifer Lawrence, Viola Davis and Amy Schumer are some of the few who have taken a stand. 

It's no secret that actresses are regularly asked to lose weight so they can better fit the absurd body standards that still pervade Hollywood. But they're not the only women in the entertainment business who feel that pressure.

Shonda Rhimes, the creator of long-running shows like Grey's Anatomy and Scandal, wrote a newsletter about her weight loss, and how she hates that it's automatically linked to attractiveness.

"Women I barely knew gushed. And I mean GUSHED. Like I was holding-a-new-baby-gushed. Only there was no new baby. It was just me. In a dress. With makeup on and my hair all did, yes. But … still the same me.

But even more disconcerting was that all these people suddenly felt completely comfortable talking to me about my body. Telling me I looked 'pretty' or that they were 'proud of me' or that 'wow, you are so hot now' or 'you look amazing!' After I lost weight, I discovered that people found me valuable. Worthy of conversation. A person one could look at. A person one could compliment. A person one could admire."

Rhimes hits the problem right on the head — thinner and fitter equals better looking in the public eye, especially in Hollywood where looks seem to matter most. While no one requested Rhimes lose weight, she's obviously not immune to the pressures other women in Hollywood — and everywhere — regularly face.

Even though body image isn't an easy subject to open up about, that hasn't stopped Rhimes. Regardless of her reason for doing it, it's inspiring, because it affects everyone, not just people in entertainment. Projecting an unrealistic body image as the standard of beautiful can trigger low self-esteem and eating disorders in children and adults.

Her candor about the ugly side of weight loss makes her one of a handful of women who are getting real about Hollywood's unhealthy obsession with skinniness.

Here are seven other women in entertainment who pushed back on body expectations. 

1. Viola Davis

When Viola Davis won the first ever #SeeHer Award at the 2017 Critics Choice Awards, her speech directly addressed her struggle with body image and acceptance.

Interestingly, the example she gave had to do with her role on Shonda Rhimes' "How to Get Away With Murder," but her message is no doubt one with which Rhimes would agree.

"You know, when I was handed Annalise Keating, I said, 'She’s sexy, she's mysterious, you know?' I'm used to playing women who gotta gain 40 pounds and have to wear an apron. So I said, 'Oh God, I gotta to lose weight, I gotta learn how to walk like Kerry Washington in heels, you know, I gotta lose my belly.' And then I asked myself, 'Well, why do I have to do all that?'

I truly believe that the privilege of a lifetime is being who you are, and I just recently embraced that at 51."

2. Betty Gilpin

Looking at Betty Gilpin, it's hard to imagine she grapples with the size and shape of her body. But, thanks to a piece she wrote for Glamour, she made it clear that even girls who look "perfect" to the outside world can be screaming on the inside.

Gilpin spent her adolescence and much of her adulthood wanting to disappear inside her body, which was hard to do when she "gained 30 pounds of thigh, booty and certified American jugs."

When she started acting, her body image was always on her mind, largely because of the often sexist working environments.

"Sometimes a TV set can be a shame-and-fear obstacle course for an actress. Ten points if the sexist-gargoyle producer tries to flirt with you after you've gone through hair and makeup, so you don't disgust him. Don't make eye contact with the Philly cheesesteaks they bring out for the crew."

Then she got cast on "GLOW" and everything changed.

"I saw power and care together for the first time. Seeing women possess those two things simultaneously was a huge lesson for me ... This created the constant sense of: You are loved and celebrated — and now that you're comfortable, please give us your goddamn guts and soul so we can make the best thing possible."

3. Amy Schumer

Amy Schumer also struggled with her body image throughout her life. However, being a comedian, the issue was front and center on stage in front of a live audience all the time. Still, she's not afraid to talk bluntly about it, as she did with host Maria Shriver in an on-camera interview in 2015.

"It's an emotional thing. It's been a struggle for me my whole life, and especially just being in the entertainment industry. Standing on a stage in front of people, I can't perform my best or be confident if I'm not sure — if I'm pulling at something [I'm wearing]. Sometimes I would just want to throw in the towel and be like, 'I'm not gonna go do standup tonight.'"

As such, she's made it her mission to dispel the myth that everyone in Hollywood is naturally, or comfortably, skinny. She might go a little farsometimes, but hey, that's a comedian's prerogative.