The pop star spoke candidly about her own gender identity and attraction to women in ‘The Power of Women’ issue of Variety
Billie Eilish is opening up about her experience with womanhood after years of being scrutinized over her body and sexuality.
The superstar, 21, got candid in a new interview for Variety’s The Power of Women issue about her perception of her own femininity and her attraction towards women.
Eilish, who for years almost exclusively wore baggy clothes that concealed her figure, told the outlet that she’s struggled with her looks and identity because she’s “never felt desired or desirable.”
“I’ve never felt like a woman, to be honest with you. I’ve never felt desirable. I’ve never felt feminine,” revealed Eilish. “I have to convince myself that I’m, like, a pretty girl.”
Billie Eilish on the cover of ‘Variety’.
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The “Bad Guy” singer clarified her preferred pronouns, adding, “I identify as ‘she/her’ and things like that, but I’ve never really felt like a girl.”
The Grammy winner explained that because she has long had complicated feelings about her own womanhood, it’s led her to feel as if other women don’t like her. “I’ve never really felt like I could relate to girls very well,” she shared.
Although Eilish wrestles with that assumption, she admitted that she’s “attracted to” other women. “I love [women] so much. I love them as people. I’m attracted to them as people. I’m attracted to them for real,” she said.
“I have deep connections with women in my life, the friends in my life, the family in my life,” the singer-songwriter continued. “I’m physically attracted to them. But I’m also so intimidated by them and their beauty and their presence.”
Billie Eilish.
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As Eilish has faced a great deal of scrutiny surrounding topics like her sexuality and dating history, which she told Variety has been “weird and upsetting,” she has been relatively private about her personal life in the past.
The singer was last romantically linked to Jesse Rutherford of the alternative band The Neighbourhood starting in October 2022. After eight months of dating, a source confirmed to PEOPLE that the two musicians had split in May, but noted they “remain good friends.”
Prior to Rutherford, Eilish dated actor Matthew Tyler Vorce for a little over a year from April 2021 to May 2022. She also opened up about dating and breaking up with Brandon Adams, a rapper who goes by the stage name 7:AMP, in her Apple TV+ documentary Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry.
Billie Eilish Says Her 2019 Hit ‘Bad Guy’ Is the ‘Stupidest Song in the World’Billie Eilish.
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The “What Was I Made For?” singer has previously addressed her frustration with the way the media and listeners have inquired about her sexuality before.
In a 2021 interview with Elle, Eilish referred to conversations online that she’s witnessed throughout her career about her style and dating history and interjected by saying, “Or my sexuality!”
“Like, oh yeah, that’s everyone else’s business, right? No. Where’s that energy with men?” she continued. “I just wanted to make a song once, and then I kept making songs. I never said, ‘Hey, pay attention to my life.’”