She's a girl on fire, and Jennifer Lawrence is using her place in the spotlight to speak out about issues close to her heart. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire star recently sat down with Barbara Walters for the journalist's annual 10 Most Fascinating People of 2013 special where she talked about the practice of fat shaming.
"Why is humiliating people funny?" Lawrence, 23, asked. "I get it, I do it too. We all do it."
But the Oscar winner argues that fat-shaming on TV and elsewhere has an indisputably harmful effect on her young female fans.
"I think the media needs to take responsibility for the effect it has on our younger generation on these girls that are watching these television shows and picking up how to talk and how to be cool," she continued. "So all of the sudden being funny is making fun of the girl that's wearing an ugly dress. And the word fat! I just think it should be illegal to call somebody fat on TV. If we're regulating cigarettes and sex and cuss words because of the effect it has on our younger generation, why aren't we regulating things like calling somebody fat?"
This isn't the first time the young star has spoken out about weight. In the December 2012 issue of Elle Magazine, she said, "In Hollywood, I'm obese. I'm considered a fat actress."
Lawrence, who recently wrapped X-Men: Days of Future Past (with on-again boyfriend Nicholas Hoult among others) and is set to start filming The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 1 and 2 soon, is currently promoting her new film, American Hustle. Her role has already garnered both a SAG and Golden Globe nomination, with a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination — one year after her best actress win for Silver Linings Playbook — possibly in the cards.
