Demi Lovato Says She Cut Her Hair Short to Break Free of 'Gender, Sexuality Norms' of Christianity, Southern Culture

Amanda Casanova | ChristianHeadlines.com Contributor | Updated: Apr 21, 2021
Demi Lovato Says She Cut Her Hair Short to Break Free of 'Gender, Sexuality Norms' of Christianity, Southern Culture

Demi Lovato Says She Cut Her Hair Short to Break Free of 'Gender, Sexuality Norms' of Christianity, Southern Culture

Singer Demi Lovato told actor Drew Barrymore on her talk show that she cut her hair short to break free of the "gender and sexuality norms" of southern and Christian cultures.

While talking to Barrymore about putting herself before other people's opinions of her or her career, Lovato shared, "I cut my hair because I just wanted to free myself from all of the gender and sexuality norms that were placed on me as a Christian in the South. And when I cut my hair, I felt so liberated because I wasn't subscribing to an ideal or a belief placed upon me to be something that I'm not."

Lovato, 28, says she is the "happiest" she has ever been now that she is "owning" herself. Previously, the singer has struggled with drug addiction, CBN News reports.

"If you don't like it, fine," she said. "But if this provokes a conversation and raises awareness, takes away the stigma about the topics I'm talking about, then that's what I want, is to just open people's perspectives and to change the conversation around recovery, too."

Lovato details her recovery from drug addiction on her new album and in her YouTube docuseries, both titled Dancing with the Devil.

"I was dancing with the devil, out of control / almost made it to heaven / it was closer than you know / playing with the enemy, gambling with my soul / it's so hard to say 'no' / when you're dancing with the devil," she sings in the chorus of the title track.

In March, Lovato came out as "pansexual," which she described as being attracted to "anything, really." She has also called her sexual preferences "fluid."

"I felt a lot of shame, because, growing up in Texas as a Christian, that's very frowned upon," she said of being sexually attracted to women. "Any attraction that I ever had toward a female at a young age, I shut it down before I even let myself process what I was feeling."

Lovato was previously engaged to actor Max Ehrich. They broke off their engagement in 2020.

"My parents, they did the best that they could," she said. "There's no manual on how to raise a child star, and when the child star retorts back after the parent says, 'You're grounded for sneaking out at three in the morning, whatever.' I retorted with: 'Well, I pay the bills. What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do to keep me grounded?' It was challenging."

Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Rich Fury/Staff

Video courtesy: The Drew Barrymore Show


Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.



Demi Lovato Says She Cut Her Hair Short to Break Free of 'Gender, Sexuality Norms' of Christianity, Southern Culture