Beyond her work as an actress, Jameela Jamil is an outspoken feminist. There is, of course, more to her than that. She powerfully advocates for body positivity, fat liberation, and women’s rights. Like many other artists, Jamil has experienced her own personal hardships, including a decades-long fight with an eating disorder that began in her adolescence. Today, she’s using those experiences as the foundation for an incredible platform for change. She’s fiercely advocating to help others overcome these old beauty standards and the chokehold of diet culture. She thinks these toxic ideals have serious effects on people’s mental and physical well-being.
In 2018, Jamil started the I Weigh movement. This campaign supports women in experiencing their beauty outside of societal standards. This campaign has really caught on, striking a chord with people who are fed up with feeling bullied by impossible standards and fairy tales. Jamil’s impactful work earned her recognition as one of Time magazine’s 25 most influential people in 2019. And most recently, she was honored to be chosen as one of Glamour magazine’s 2024 Women of the Year.
Jamil’s path hasn’t always been easy. Her eating disorder has taken a huge toll on her body. Not only did it wreck her bone density, digestive system, kidneys, liver and heart. She shares these struggles with radical vulnerability to create space for the practice of self-acceptance and personal accountability. In the process, she wants to motivate other people to put their health and happiness first rather than the expectations of society.
The actress became a household name after starring in the popular, highly lauded TV show The Good Place. There, she won an Emmy for her performance opposite Ted Danson. In addition to her acting career, Jamil continues to tackle issues surrounding the glorification of thinness and the normalization of cosmetic procedures. Her refusing cosmetic surgery and treatments is a call for authenticity and self-love, and she has made that very public.
In a phone interview yesterday, Jamil told us more about society’s double standards and how they hurt women.
“We’re all guilty of it — but to what extent are you willing to punish or risk your body, your life, and your mental and physical health for a patriarchal standard?” – Jameela Jamil
Jamil understands that wanting to look good is a totally valid pursuit. He thinks it’s necessary to challenge the societal norms that set those standards. She urges us to talk frankly about these matters instead of resigning ourselves to the belief that they are immutable facts of life.
“It’s not a call to arms … I’m more trying to start big, public conversations about [these issues] so we can stop just being lulled into submission all of the time.” – Jameela Jamil
Jamil, who is on a mission to ignite conversation on the issues that matter most, To accomplish this, she’s created a brand new comedy podcast called Wrong Turns. The podcast aims to address life’s challenges with humor while encouraging listeners to embrace their imperfections. As Jamil launches this exciting new adventure, she looks back and appreciates the experiences of her life’s journey. She is passionate about sharing the lessons she’s learned through her work.
She stated:
“I want my 85-year-old self to like who I am now. I want her to feel like I was looking out for her, that I was excited for her arrival, and I wasn’t dreading it.” – Jameela Jamil
Living in Los Angeles with her boyfriend James Blake, Jamil describes herself as entering her “crone era,” a phase where she embraces wisdom and authenticity over societal expectations. She hopes this transformative time will teach others to embrace themselves, stretch marks and all.
Jamil’s advocacy extends beyond personal narratives. She critiques the media’s continuous cycle of promoting unattainable beauty standards.
“It’s honestly creeped me out watching grown women in 2025 lap it up again as if we learned nothing in the last 10 years,” – Jameela Jamil
Society often dictates how we should think and feel, but through her efforts, Jamil hopes to encourage people to break these norms and be their true selves. Her new emphasis on body positivity looks like an even deeper devotion to breaking up with the sometimes harmful culture that glamorizes unattainable beauty standards.
In tackling the gravity of these issues, Jamil balances it with the act of laughing at yourself and self-acceptance.
“Sometimes things are just shit, and we need to accept that and laugh about it.” – Jameela Jamil
Her boldness in tackling the tough issues strikes a chord with those who are dealing with the weight of expectations from society. She hopes by speaking candidly about these struggles that knowledge can create some understanding and some healing.
Even while dealing with the serious undertones of her message, Jamil adopts a playful tone when reflecting on her own personal journey. She talks about how the people she’s close to affect how she makes decisions about her appearance.
“There’s no way I would wear the dresses I wear if I didn’t live with a man that I wanted to sleep with,” – Jameela Jamil
This painfully honest acknowledgment points to the difficult line women must walk between being feminine, relatable, and attractive.
