On the NYC-based Freeform comedy The Bold Type [1], Katie Stevens plays Jane Sloan, a strong-willed 20-something who's navigating her life as a writer for Scarlet Magazine. Whether she's putting on her investigative reporter hat for a tough article, freezing her eggs [2] after finding out she has the BRCA gene [3], or falling in love in the big city, Jane's discovered more confidence with each new challenge and season of the show. When it comes to Katie's own confidence off screen, she recently opened up with some "real talk" on Instagram, revealing that her journey hasn't been so easy.
Katie, 26, started by writing that she's never felt confident posting a photo in her workout clothes, "much less a bathing suit," because she "never felt 100% confident in my skin." When she was younger, she had an "unhealthy obsession" with what being fit meant [4], she said. Social media didn't exist at the time, so she "didn't have the image of picture perfect Instagrammers staring back at me, but I already wanted to be like anybody but myself." Though there's a push for unfiltered photos and vulnerability on social media [5], that veil of perfection still exists. It's hard to push past that sometimes.
Fast forward to now, Katie said she's proud of herself and loves who she is. "I finally, within the last year or so, feel like I'm developing a better relationship with my body, with food, with my thoughts, and in turn, with the people around me," she wrote. "I work out because it makes me feel good, I eat good food without punishing myself [7], and I allow thoughts to come and go as they please, but I don't carry them through my day like heavy anchors." What does she carry with her instead? The reminder that her loved ones and followers "think I'm special, and that's pretty freaking cool." And why shouldn't she think she's special, too?
Katie wrote, "I see and feel myself changing. The physical changes are more visible, but the mental changes are more powerful. Self-love is a journey, and no one ever has it figured out. Remember that!" She finished with more very important real talk: "You're all enough exactly as you are, just look in the mirror and remind yourself." Later, she posted a message to her followers on her Instagram story thanking them for their support (the positive feedback in the comments of that post is overwhelming), and she vowed to continue to be open about her experiences. Openness, after all, is how we find common ground in our seemingly different worlds.
