When Jameela Jamil, the former T4 presenter-turned-unlikely star of a hit US sitcom, posted an innocuous photo on Instagram annotated with the things she liked about herself, she never intended to kick-start a revolution.
But in the weeks since, thousands of women have followed suit, posting their own photos with attributes about the careers they love, the families they cherish and the diseases and mental health struggles they have overcome. Like Jameela, who had written, ‘I weigh: lovely relationship, great friends, I laugh every day, I love my job’, none of them mentioned physical attributes or their weight.
Last week, I Weigh, now an Instagram account in its own right, which Jameela describes as a ‘museum of self-worth’, hit a staggering 22,000 followers. Meanwhile, the actor also announced she would be giving a talk at the Girlboss rally in LA, where she is based.
What’s behind the success of I Weigh? According to Jameela, women have been crying out for a chance to be positive about themselves – and the account has finally given them the opportunity. ‘We are at a breaking point of low self-esteem,’ she says. ‘Levels of self-hatred are at epic proportions, in my opinion. Everyone is so ashamed of themselves.
‘But I Weigh is a safe space on the internet where women can go and actually honour the lives that we live.’
The movement started earlier this year when Jameela came across a photo of the Kardashian sisters on Instagram, annotated with how much they each weigh. ‘I thought the numbers were about how much they were worth financially,’ says Jameela. ‘But it was about their weight. These are some of the most successful businesswomen who have built an empire that will go down in history. I couldn’t believe it.’
She’s desperate for women to see themselves beyond their bodies or what they think they should look like. It’s something she’s been ‘banging on’ about for a decade, having seen her own body scrutinised in the public eye. ‘I made history at Radio 1 as the first woman at the helm of the chart show in 60 years,’ she says. ‘But the papers cared more that I’d gained two stone, because at the time I had been taking steroids for asthma. It eclipsed my entire career and proved to me that I was only seen for the flesh on my bones.’
That historic stint on Radio 1 ended in 2015, and she moved to LA shortly after. Back then, she wanted to move away from the camera and into journalism (her piece last year on the Aziz Ansari controversy, in which she argued for ‘enthusiastic consent’ was another viral moment). Yet somehow, her management team persuaded her to audition for The Good Place, a US sitcom also starring Kristen Bell and Ted Danson. Despite no acting experience, she landed the part. Two years later, she’s just started filming the third series (there’s also talk of a film role later in the year, as well as a book).
‘I’ve had five different careers in 10 years,’ she laughs. ‘I feel like I’m always in the deep end. I have quite low confidence about my skill set, but this is the strongest and most self-assured I have ever felt. And I have the women who have supported me in this campaign to thank for that.
‘They have filled me to the brim with self-worth. In trying to heal them, they’ve accidentally ended up healing me.’
Visit instagram.com/i_weigh