Selena Shakes Off Body-Shamers & Inspires Us All

Selena Gomez is a singer, dancer, actress and an inspiration to women everywhere. While promoting her new single, "Same Old Love," Gomez discussed body-shaming. When Ryan Seacrest brought up the singer's past year, she admitted it's been interesting because of the public's reaction to her weight gain. However, Gomez's response to body-shamers is a lesson in eloquence and self-confidence.

"... I feel very empowered and confident and comfortable in where I am," she said. "I think it took me a long while to get there because the past year was so interesting. I've never been body-shamed before. I dealt with a whole other set of issues that was really interesting ... I did gain weight, but I don’t care."

When Seacrest asked if she was bothered by the reactions, Gomez responded:

"You know what's interesting? I posted this photo on Instagram and I was like, 'There’s more to love and I’m happy with myself.' The reason why I did that was because I didn't want them to win. Because then the next day, it wasn't about how I gained weight, it was about how I embraced it. And that’s just kind of my approach."

And that is how it is done. Here are seven more times Gomez inspired all of us.

1. On Her Self Image

"I'm not going to care," she told L.A.'s Power 106 (quote via PEOPLE.) I'm not going to let them get to me. I can do what I want."

2. On Handling Criticism

"Sometimes you have to lie to yourself to get through the criticism, and then you're in your closet crying," Gomez told the Sunday Times (via PopSugar.) "It's been like that for me a couple of times, but I only want to learn from those things."

3. On Being Powerful

"I'm glad it's taken me this long to get where I am because now I am ready for it," Gomez told Seventeen.

4. On Putting Herself First

"I kept pushing myself and I think the biggest thing I learned is, it’s okay. I’m going to stop when I need to stop, I’m going to feel when I need to feel, and I don’t care what comes with that or what people want to say," Gomez told Ryan Seacrest in 2014. "It’s normal. I’m suppose to keep going and that’s all I want to do."

5. On Relationships

"But people are put into your life for seasons, for different reasons, and to teach you lessons," Gomez told Seventeen in 2011. "You're growing and changing, and eventually, you can go from having all these friends to feeling like you have no one, because you've been betrayed, or you've gone through things."

6. On Her Career

"I want to keep pushing myself so I never feel settled," she told InStyle in 2013.

7. On Learning

"I'm super stoked that I've got some bumps on me, some scars, some bruises," Gomez told V magazine (quote via E! News) in 2014. "I actually really love that. And I don't mean that in a morbid way."

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