Jameela Jamil – Using Your Platform Right
/Her acting career comes second to her advocacy. Body neutrality, social justice, and disability and LGBTQ rights is where her focus lies. Queer actress Jameela Jamil uses her platform in the greatest way a person can – to advocate for those in need.
Creating a Safe Space
JAMEELA JAMIL. PHOTO BY: Sela Shiloni
Jamil is best known for her role of Tahani Al-Jamil from the series The Good Place, which boosted her following to give her the voice she has today. She has created a platform that encourages self acceptance – something Jamil had her own struggles with growing up. At 9 years old she was diagnosed with chronic illness Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and along with being South Asian and secretly queer, she felt lonely and shameful of herself. During her early teens she developed an eating disorder that followed for years.
Upon the growth of her following and fame, she felt brave enough to speak out about her illness after being told to keep it hidden for years. She had a security blanket of people that cared about her, and she was done being quiet.
Not only does Jamil spread awareness for Ehlers-Danlos, but she is also the founder of the platform Move For Your Mind (formerly known as iWEIGH), which began as an awareness platform for eating disorders and bloomed into a place where anyone can feel safe and seen. She strives to give everyone a voice and aims to cover every group of people so she can create a positive space that brings the world closer. One of Jamil’s staples is “progress not perfection”, as her brand Move For Your Mind is a welcoming space that allows people to not just have a safe space to be, but also a safe space to learn.
Coming Out in the Public Eye
Contrary to the support she has today, Jamil hasn’t always been met with enthusiasm. In 2020, she was the subject of some controversy surrounding the announcement she would be a judge on the drag show, Legendary, centered around the culture of ballroom, which has strong black and Latin American queer roots. Jamil, who is neither black nor Latina and was not openly queer at the time, faced a lot of backlash for having no roots to ballroom culture and taking the opportunity away from someone who does.
The controversy caused a lot of confusion and frustration from those calling her out, defenders of Jamil, and Jamil herself. In the midst of it all, Jamil made the choice to come out as queer. Unfortunately, this only added to the hate she was receiving. Many people took her coming out as an excuse for her choice to be a judge on the show.
JAMEELA JAMIL. PHOTO BY: Nathan Pask
Beyond the controversy surrounding Legendary, Jamil was also criticized during her coming out because she had been with her boyfriend, James Blake, for five years at the time. Many queer women with attraction to men share this struggle, and it’s one of the reasons Jamil hid her sexuality for so long. Many “straight passing” queer women get accused of faking for attention or status. Jamil had feared being labelled performative, and despite her fears coming true, she didn’t let it get the better of her because she knew the message that would send to closeted queer people. Instead, she confronted the issue head on in an interview with The Times. “People are still kind of stuck in the linear and don’t understand the spectrum of sexuality,” Jamil said.
Following the event, she put out a post on Instagram pouring out her feelings about holding in her sexuality for so many years and the strain it had on her. Although her timing was not the best, she felt as though she was about to explode after holding in her queerness for so long. In her post she urged closeted queer people to come out on their own time. She reminds us that there’s no rush, but know there is a community ready to support you.
Taking the Opportunity
In the age of social media, celebrities are given this incredible opportunity to spread awareness and influence people on self acceptance and growth. Jamil has taken that opportunity, and we need more people like her to follow suit. Awareness goes farther than we think, and advocacy saves more than we know.
Olivia Senecal is a second-year student in the Professional Writing program at Algonquin College. While she doesn’t have a solid preference to one genre, she likes to write about things that come from the heart. Making space in her work where queer people feel seen is a strong goal of hers, as growing up she struggled to find that space for herself. In her spare time, she’ll likely be found lying on a patch of grass somewhere or thinking about Caitlyn Kiramman from Arcane.