Kerry Washington Mentions JLo and Gwyneth Paltrow While Discussing Her Body Image in the ’90s

Kerry Washington is opening up much more about her expertise with physique picture points.On Oct. 1, Washington spoke candidly with actress Gabrielle Union on the Palace Theatre throughout the Los Angeles e book tour cease for her bombshell memoir, Thicker Than Water. Throughout their dialogue, Union introduced up a extensively held perception that “Black girls and ladies do not expertise disordered consuming or expertise physique dysmorphia” and requested Washington, 46, if that affected her personal private journey.“I believe this concept of needing to repair myself, needing to be higher, needing to be extra good, these seeds have been planted very early,” Washington informed Union.Washington, who spoke with PEOPLE for our Oct. 9 concern, acknowledged that she was “a really personal individual” in her story. Thicker Than Water, which revealed on Sept. 26, reveals a susceptible facet of the Scandaland Little Fires In all placesactress, as she discusses matters like her childhood panic assaults, having an abortion and her expertise with an consuming dysfunction.

With Union, Washington talked about going to highschool on New York Metropolis’s Higher East Aspect, the place she thought that evaluating herself with the “very prosperous White girls” at her personal college helped contribute to her consuming dysfunction.“These are stereotypes, however the ways in which their mothers and the ladies in that world seemed was so totally different from the ladies that I grew up with,” Washington informed Union. “And all of the messages I used to be getting from Hollywood and from this surroundings was that thinner is best. And that success seemed like thinness.”

Washington additionally mentioned being from the identical Bronx neighborhood that Jennifer Lopez was from and the way, within the ‘90s, the previous had a special view of magnificence requirements.“Jennifer’s butt was being celebrated all over the place,” Washington recalled. “However that wasn’t what I used to be decoding as stunning. As a result of I used to be spending 9 hours a day at Spence, the place Gwyneth Paltrow went. I am not physique shaming Gwyneth Paltrow, however…there was one space that I used to be kind of being informed was the path to pursue.” Washington additionally made a joke to the group about how she had talked about two of Ben Affleck’s exes. Lopez and Affleck at the moment are married.

Washington went on to inform Union that about how she feels there needs to be extra open dialog about consuming problems as properly.

“I believe that we typically do not speak about it as a lot as we should always,” she stated. “A part of why I believe it is necessary to speak about it’s as a result of disordered consuming doesn’t belong to at least one group. That ache doesn’t belong to at least one group.”

Thicker Than Water, because the title suggests, showcases Washington’s message of resilience.

“In my group, there was not a number of expertise with consuming problems,” Washington stated. “I believe it is necessary that we’ve got the braveness to acknowledge when issues usually are not okay.”

Thicker Than Water is now obtainable the place books are offered.

• With Reporting by Nathan Vinson