Selena Gomez recently sat down for an interview with Business of Fashion. Here are some highlights from that interview:
Imran Amed: What do you think is the biggest challenge for your generation, the Millennial generation?
Selena Gomez: "The biggest challenge is separating what you see on your phone from what is your life. A lot of young girls are getting involved with things that I didn’t even know about, quicker. There are 13-year-olds who look like they’re 25, and I was still wearing pigtails and running around like playing with dolls with my girlfriends and maybe listening to Jesse McCartney on a CD player [at that age]. That wasn’t a long time ago, which is why it scares me. I see a disconnect from real life connections to people, and that makes me a little worried. I do think social media is an amazing way to stay connected, to learn more things about what’s going outside your little bubble, but sometimes I think it’s too much information."
IA: What are the key things that make your generation different — apart from social media and technology?
SG: "There’s more freedom in expression, not just through social media, but through fashion, and the ability to say things and be vocal about how you’re feeling, maybe your sexuality or your personality. It’s become a little more open for conversation. My mom and my grandparents have told me crazy stories, just to see how far we’ve come. I know there’s a lot more work to do, I’m not oblivious to that, but I do feel we’re in a new wave that kind of shakes everything up — that’s through our actions, through community, through everything, through fashion, and music. We get to pave that way. It’s really cool."
IA: What do you mean by crazy stories?
SG: "My story is a little different. My mom had me when she was 16, we’re not from the best area ever, my grandparents lived in the same house for a really long time and they have a lot of stories. And I’m from Texas in the South. There’s this whole other factor of southern living that is beautiful, and I think a lot of who I am is a Texas girl at heart. But also there is just that way that everybody’s parents grew up. They were afraid, they were shaken up by experiences that happened. They weren’t as able to speak up as much as they can now. My mom has been through a lot of stuff that isn’t fair. Obviously she was a young white girl with a Mexican man and that — even in my mom’s high school — that was a little weird in the beginning. It’s just different now. I don’t have to experience certain things the way they did."
IA: When you were just starting out, did you find the idea of fame appealing? And has that changed over time?
SG: "I think it changed when I started getting known for things that weren’t [related to] my work. That’s when my passion started to really feel like it was going further and further away. And that scared me. When I was younger, it was all fun to me. When I did state fairs and 100 people would show up, I would be stoked. That was the best feeling in the world. But when I got older, I started to become exposed to the truth behind some stuff and that’s when it flipped a little bit. I realised that, “Oh this is actually really hard, and kind of slimy in certain areas,” and I didn’t realise that certain people wanted certain things from me. My confidence went through a lot with that."
IA: Yes, you’ve spoken quite openly about your own mental health issues. Is mental health the defining issue for your generation? Or do you feel like it’s always been there and people are just talking about it more now?
SG: "I feel like it’s always been there. When I took time to learn about my feelings and my frustrations, and where things stemmed from, there was this huge fog lifted from my life because then I understood it. I think it should be a part of middle school. You know how in kindergarten they teach you the smiley face and the sad face and the angry face — “these are the feelings you’re feeling.” I love that, but I think it should be more sophisticated and brought into middle school and high school because it is something that we need to figure out. People are struggling with something every day and they think, “Oh it’s just high school, or I’m not great enough, or it’s because I’m so great.” It’s all about learning. I hope we are the generation that gets to bring that up a little bit more, but I do believe it’s always been there."
IA: What are the most important things young people should know about mental health?
SG: "First to educate yourself, to ask somebody that you respect. Don’t say, “Oh I should ask everybody around me in my class if this is something I should do,” but ask somebody you respect. I asked teachers, coaches, managers, people that I respected [because of] the way they’ve lived their life. I asked them, “How did you get to this place? What were you like when you were 25? What were the things that you were thinking about?” And then from there, being with like-minded people. You are who you surround yourself with — 100 percent. If you’re around people who think that stuff is dumb, that think it’s ridiculous — “You’re crazy! You’re fine!” — but you don’t feel that way, then maybe it’s time to reevaluate that. It’s a lonely journey to really figure out where all this stuff is coming from. And to detach from it. It becomes an addiction, it becomes a habit, retraining your mind to not go to these negative places when you say something wrong, do something wrong, when you wear a certain thing or represent a certain culture. But it is lonely, I had to lose a lot of people in my life to get there."
IA: What do you mean?
SG:: "You have to figure out the people that are in your circle. I feel like I know everybody but have no friends. [Laughs] I have like three good friends that I can tell everything to, but I know everyone. I go anywhere and I’m like, “Hey guys, how’s it going?” And it feels great to be connected to people, but having boundaries is so important. You have to have those few people that respect you, want the best for you and you want the best for them. It sounds cheesy, but it’s hard."
Read the full article at Business of Fashion.
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