Photo: Jonathan Van Ness/Instagram
Jonathan Van Nesswants more people to recognize thatbody image issuescan be difficult for anyone, regardless of gender expression.
Van Ness said that his struggles led to “eating disorders, [a] weird relationship with food, for sure.”
The grooming expert said that he came to realize that the socially expected male beauty standards are not wide enough for his looks.
“I think what really has changed the most is that I’m aware of the unrealistic beauty expectations that are forced down their throats, and that they always have been, and have narrower ideas of what beauty are,” he said. “And really, it’s realizing that this system doesn’t fit me. It’s not that I don’t fit the system.”
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Van Ness, who recently revealed in his new memoirOver the Topthathe is HIV positive, also talked about pushing his dad on his political beliefs.
RELATED VIDEO: Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness Recalls the Day He Was Diagnosed HIV-Positive After Fainting
Van Ness said that his dad ended up voting for Independent Gary Johnson in 2016. But his dad and stepmom have shifted their views over the last three years, and attended Pride in Columbia, Missouri in “Yes Queen” shirts.
“He is someone who I don’t think would vote for an independent candidate in the next election,” Van Ness said of his dad.
And with his memoir now on sale, Van Ness sharedhis hopes for his readers.
“I want people to be able to take joy [from his book] because life is joyful,” he said. “And I think that being able to have the opportunity to experience life is painful, it is joyful, it is tragic, it is jubilant. It is a cacophony of opposites and that is what life is. And I think that really the path is finding the balance in all of it.”
source: people.com
