Billie Eilish talks social media's influence on her body image insecurities

By Megan Stone

Billie Eilish opened up about how the pressures of social media have altered her relationship with her body.

The 19-year-old singer told the U.K. newspaper The Guardian that while she's "confident in who I am," she's "not happy" with her body.

"When I'm on stage, I have to disassociate from the ideas I have of my body," she told the outlet. "Especially because I wear clothes that are bigger and easier to move in without showing everything -- they can be really unflattering... I have such a terrible relationship with my body, like, you would not believe."

Eilish noted how paparazzi will take unflattering photos of her, which she said inspires online bullies to call her "fat."

"I mean, we only need bodies to eat and walk around and poop. We only need them to survive. It’s ridiculous that anybody even cares about bodies at all," she said. "Like, why? Why do we care? You know, when you really think about it?”

Although the singer acknowledges that many images that flood social media are fake or unrealistic, she said she is still affected.

"I know the ins and outs of this industry, and what people actually use in photos, and I actually know what looks real can be fake," she said. "Yet I still see it and go, 'Oh God.' That makes me feel really bad."

Eilish sings about that in her new track "OverHeated," which she said is a call-out letter to "all the people who promote unattainable body standards."

Eilish also noted how exhausting it is to grapple with insecurity, adding, "It’s such a loss to always try to always look good. It’s such a loss of joy and freedom in your body."