Both longtime and new fans of Janet Jackson, 55, have been watching and talking about her new documentary, Janet, that premiered on January 28th via A&E and Lifetime. The film paid homage to her musical talents and artistry while also showing viewers a vulnerable, raw and emotional side of Jackson and her personal life. The hitmaker notably opened up about her lifelong struggle with body image issues. According to The Sun, Jackson attributed fame as a huge contributing factor behind her insecurities.
The singer said in Janet that her body image issues began with her acting career, when she was cast on the 1974 sitcom, Good Times at the young age of 11. “I did Good Times, and that’s the beginning of having weight issues and the way I looked at myself.” Jackson also said that she’s “an emotional eater,” and added that “when I get stressed or something is really bothering me, it comforts me.”
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Her famous brother, she said, also added to her self-consciousness surrounding her physical appearance as a young girl. In the film, Jackson said that her brother Michael Jackson would call her hurtful and traumatic names like “pig,” “horse,” “slaughter hog,” and “cow” growing up. “He would laugh about it, and I’d laugh, too, but then there was somewhere down inside that it would hurt. When you have somebody say you’re too heavy, it affects you,” Jackson said.
Jackson also says in the documentary that facing puberty while in the public eye was immensely (and understandably) difficult. “I was developing at a very young age,” Jackson says. “I started getting a chest and they would bind it so I would look more flat-chested.” She continued, “I probably would have wound up not having a problem” if not for fame, she said.
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In a February cover story and interview with Allure, Jackson revealed that she started learning about and practicing body confidence to the best of her ability. She explained that her 1993 self-titled album Janet (and its beautiful, memorable cover shoot) were about “embracing me and trying to learn to love me for me, my body, all of that. Trying to feel comfortable in embracing that,” Jackson said. Becoming confident in her body “took a lot of work, a lot of work,” she continued. “But I’m glad I walked through it […] It was a way of accepting and loving, accepting yourself and your body.”
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As upsetting and heartbreaking as it is to hear about Jackson’s struggles with her body image, fans are loving how her documentary centers around her taking back her own narrative. “This is my story, told by me,” she said in a teaser. “Not through someone else’s eyes.”
Fans continue to comment on Jackson’s Instagram account that “seeing her reflect back on how she gained confidence” was “inspiring” and “watching how” she became the multitalented performer “that we know and love today” was “moving,” as various users wrote.
