In a lengthy Instagram post accompanied by tearful photos, Dove Cameron reveals that she’s having a hard time reconciling the pressure that society puts on us to stick to one identity.
“I’ve been struggling lately with the concept of self, my inner relationship to who I know myself to be and my outer perceivable self, who I feel I have never known but who other people seem to,” the singer and actress writes.
Adding that she’s “sometimes terrorized by my identity and image,” she admits that she’s been “covering mirrors” and “feeling wrong in clothing that used to make me feel beautiful.” She also says she’s been “crying a lot lately.”
The “Boyfriend” singer, who self-identifies as queer, goes on to say, “I don’t know if I’ve ever slowed down enough to learn who I am outside of fight, flight or freeze…sexuality and performative gender norms, societal rewards and identity are really throwing me for a loop.”
In part, Dove blames “social media and mirrors and branding and the constant broadcasting of self,” noting that it’s “not optimal for mental health…this is a modern problem not designed with human health in mind.”
She goes on to say that she’s sharing all this so “that we may all feel more comfortable in a conversation that may be confusing, and we may navigate something that feels difficult to put to words together.”
Dove concludes, “emotion is COOL. dysphoria is OK. living as a human is INTENSE. we are all holding hands. Don’t forget.”
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