Jemima Kirke on Body Image: "I Think a Lot of Women See Themselves Like Mr. Potato Heads"

Hear her out.

Jemima Kirke
(Image credit: Getty)

Jemima Kirke wants us to stop mix-and-matching our bodies. "I think a lot of women see themselves like Mr. Potato Heads," she recently told Refinery29. "Like, if they could take this part away, if they could eliminate this part, they would look better. They don't see themselves as a package. They see themselves as pieces."

(Hold up, did Kirke just become our new body acceptance guru? Probably.)

The Girls star also opened up about trying to be skinny while pregnant, changing diets (the watermelon diet is apparently a thing, everyone), and promoting body positivity, especially as a mom: "I think it's important for women around children, whether you're a mother or not, to never talk about not liking yourself."

Kirke will apparently be showing off more of her body on Girls—cellulite and jiggle encouraged—and while she admits she had definite reservations, she sees it as a moment to continue to broaden the realm of bodies depicted on TV. "I was tempted to say no, just because it's not gonna be comfortable to do. But, I felt somewhat obligated as someone who's on such a progressive show—as an artist, as a mother to a daughter—to show my body."

Real question: Is there a Loving Your Body 101 class taught by Kirke? And where do we sign up?

Samantha Leal
Senior Editor

Samantha Leal is the Deputy Editor at Well+Good, where she spends most of her day thinking of new ideas across platforms, bringing on new writers, overseeing the day-to-day of the website, and working with the awesome team to produce the best stories and packages. Before W+G, she was the Senior Web Editor for Marie Claire and the Deputy Editor for Latina.com, with bylines all over the internet. Graduating from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University with a minor in African history, she’s written everything from travel guides to political op-eds to wine explainers (currently enrolled in the WSET program) to celebrity profiles. Find her online pretty much everywhere @samanthajoleal.