Bellies Out, Smiles On: A Conversation with Sienna Gomez about Body Inclusivity on TikTok
Sienna Mae Gomez is an American social media personality and dancer. Born in California on January 16, 2004, Sienna and her family moved to Temecula, CA in 2012. She has been a competitive dancer for five years and is active at her high school in student government and as a member of the Varsity dance team. She also volunteers in her community through the National Charity League. Sienna actively started posting content on TikTok to her @siennamaegomezz account in July 2019. In August 2020 she created another TikTok account – @spicylatina – for her close friends and jokingly posted a video of her dancing in her kitchen with her belly out. That video – and several others poking fun at unrealistic beauty standards – went viral, resulting in global press and celebrity attention. Singer Lizzo copied one of Sienna’s famous dances and wrote in the caption, “Body positivity has entered the chat!”
As a competitive dancer, Sienna spent many years trying to “fit in” with her tall and thin peers. In 2019, she was honored with a coveted award at a California dance competition by judge Wyndee McGovern who told her,
“You were born to stand out. Have confidence in who you are and what you bring to this stage because I promise, you will be a star. ”
From then on, Sienna worked on embracing what made her different, building her self-confidence and loving all parts of herself. Today, she encourages other young women to do the same through her fun, high energy, body-positive videos. She receives hundreds of messages per day from women around the world thanking her for inspiring them to become more confident and to love themselves just as they are. In September 2020, Sienna was chosen by TikTok as one of 12 “Trailblazers” in the global Latinx community, identifying her as one of the next generation’s Latinx digital entertainment leaders.
In her spare time, Sienna loves traveling and adventuring in the outdoors (her favorite vacations include Hawaii and Cuba), going to the beach with friends, and spending time with her family: Ramon (dad, labor relations executive), Dina (mom, business owner), Jacob (older brother, photographer/videographer), Micaela (older sister, yoga teacher, UCSB student) and Caden (13-year old brother).
Can you tell us a little bit about how you got started on TikTok? What inspired you to start making videos?
I had another account on TikTok for about a year and a half. I was trying to be noticed on that one and I got a few brand deals but nothing really big and honestly, it just didn’t feel authentic. I was running out of content and just trying to do what everyone else was doing – makeup videos, cinematics, the latest dances. Then I made a second account for eight of my best friends. I posted a video of me dancing with my tummy out and literally just being myself, having a good time. And it blew up over the next few days. I got started on TikTok purposefully a little over a year ago, but I got started on TikTok accidentally a month and a half ago!
My siblings and I are super close and we all dance with our bellies out and wear low waisted pants. Our parents are very loving and taught us to love ourselves no matter how we look. That’s just a normal thing for me. I was just doing what I do and dancing with my belly out. It’s what I do with my friends; it’s what I do with my family. You can even see my dad’s hand slap my belly at the end of that video because we were all laughing so hard! So that wasn’t really something that was inspired, but it was more just something I do already. And then it grew into this movement, which is really cool.
Were you expecting the success that you’ve achieved?
No! I didn’t. I wasn’t expecting that. I, like I said, it was really just made for my eight friends to make them laugh. I was like, “Guys, I’m just going to post what I want to post on this one ‘cause my other videos aren’t doing well and I’m tired of caring about the views. I’m just going to do what I want.” And then it just happened. I wasn’t expecting it at all! I didn’t even go on that account for a few days. My brother texted me a day or two later and was like, “Did you know that video has a million views?” And I was like, “What? I didn’t know that!” And I went on that account and it was crazy. And there was so much positive feedback, which was incredible.
TikTok has recently been criticized quite heavily for promoting a restrictive eurocentric beauty standard and its accompanying body image. How is the body positive side of TikTok combatting this?
My generation only knows a connected world. We are online all the time. My mom and her generation grew up with a beauty standard defined by Hollywood in movies and magazines, not videos. For my generation, we see beauty standards through apps like Instagram and TikTok. And like a lot of girls, I’ve had phases where I’m like, “Well, I don’t look like that TikTok girl and she has millions of followers because she’s skinny and beautiful and I don’t look like that and I never will so I can’t reach that level.” I think the body positive movement is more recent and it started with, not just me, but a whole group of beautiful and diverse women who were sad to see other women saying things like, “I’m not going to eat today so I can look like that,” and “I need to start working out, I’m going on a diet.” And so many of the girls saying these things are perfect just the way they are! There is definitely some toxicity on the platform, but I think a lot of people started to recognize that and make change; to demand that we normalize normal bodies. It’s really cool. And I’m glad to be part of it.
What difference do you hope your videos have on your viewers and on the world at large?
I really hope that I reach a younger audience in order to put in their minds now, as they’re still young, that there’s not one stereotypical ideal body type. I think that when you’re young it’s really hard to not compare yourself, especially through the preteen age, that was the hardest for me personally. I would always look at these models and think, “I don’t look like that!” I would cry and I definitely struggled with it myself. I think if I can reach kids and pre-teens especially, then it could make a huge difference in the way they view themselves in the future. And for those who are older, I’m already getting feedback like, “Oh, you’ve helped me so much.” It’s honestly crazy to me because it’s like, how could I do that? Me. I feel like I’m just a normal sixteen year old girl. But for someone to say that to me – and I’ve heard it from young girls, high school girls, college girls and even women my mom’s age -- it’s mind blowing. I’m really thankful that I have made an impact on even one person!
Considering that your content really fights against well established beauty norms, have you received backlash? If so, how do you deal with it?
I think for the most part I’ve received a lot of positive feedback because this was something people needed to talk about. In my opinion it’s kind of difficult to argue with someone loving their own body! The haters look silly when they’re like, “You like your body and I don’t like you because you like your body!” But there will always be haters, of course. There will always be people who are like, “This isn’t healthy! You are not healthy!” And I just kind of state that if you’re healthy and you’re happy then you’re beautiful and you can do whatever you want. Honestly, I just try not to look at the negative feedback I get. But overall, it’s not a lot.
What’s been your past or present favorite TikTok trend?
Oh my gosh I’ve had a lot…This is really random but I really like the John Quinones one. It was just a funny comedy one and it made me laugh all the time. It was like the TV show, What Would You Do? People would just bring up random scenarios and I would always laugh at that one a lot. I don’t know why that one’s my favorite, it just is.
Also, I don’t know how I forgot this! But my favorite TikTok trend, obviously WAP. That was the one that really got me going! And that’s just a really fun one and everyone knows it. It’s like, “Let’s WAP!” You know what I mean?
Aside from TikTok, how else have you been spending your time in quarantine?
Well I started my junior year in high school recently which has been keeping me a little more busy. Because I’m a competitive dancer, I’ve had dance classes – both on Zoom and in person eventually. I definitely have been trying to stay active. In the beginning stages of COVID, my family was pretty serious about quarantining. But it was taking a toll on both my mental and physical health. My siblings and parents too. It definitely wasn’t easy, but towards the end when all of this TikTok viralness started happening, I got really occupied because I had a lot to look at! Now we’re just trying to follow the guidelines, wear masks, and be smart.
What are your plans for the future, within or outside of TikTok?
I’ve been to LA a few times to meet new influencers and go to houses that are already established, socially distancing as best as I can. But I’d really love to have a close group of friends I can create content with and travel and go back out into the world with when everything goes back to normal. In terms of future plans, I like being in LA and hope to eventually go to college there. I’m lucky to live close enough to drive there when I need to for now, but it would definitely be easier to live there at some point. I’m just taking day-by-day for now, but I’m looking forward to seeing what the future holds for me!
If you could tell yourself from 10 years ago anything, what would it be?
If I could tell myself from ten years ago anything, I think it would be that nobody’s opinion matters, except for the people you love and the people who truly do care about you. I have a tendency to listen to people a lot and their opinions on me and what they think I should do and what they think I shouldn’t do. That affected growing up because when my friend would say she liked this outfit and I liked another outfit, I would wear the one she liked because I wanted to fit in and be a part of what everyone else did. I think that’s why this whole TikTok thing is so crazy for me. I did something that wasn’t expected, that nobody else wanted me to do, but that felt authentic and real to me because it was funny. And I love being funny! Even when I posted that first video, my mom and dad were like, “You're going to post that?” and I was like “Yeah!” I just wish I could tell myself that if you love yourself, and if the people you love love you, then you’re set.
Is there anything else you’d like to leave our viewers with?
A motto of mine that I’ve been living by forever, and it’s kind of random, is that everything happens for a reason. When I get stressed or something happens I tend to think, “Why would this happen to me? Why would that happen to me?” I think a lot of people probably have those thoughts at one point or another. I think stepping back and looking at the bigger picture – that everything happens for a reason, that little actions can happen for good causes and bad causes – helps you realize that those things you go through may just be lessons you need to learn or things you need to experience. It’s a really important thing to keep in mind going through life because there’s always going to be good times, there’s always going to be bad times, it’s unavoidable. But staying focused on that bigger picture always helps me.
Sienna’s TikToks:
https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamae/video/6873534815929437446?lang=en
https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamaegomezz/video/6871718707073273094?lang=en
https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamaegomezz/video/6877750920143179014?lang=en