Lady Gaga has engineered a "Body Revolution." (Creative Commons)

Although our country was founded on the principle of freedom of all forms, somewhere along the way that freedom was misconstrued and turned into a weapon of negativity. With the help of Hollywood, tabloid magazines and social media websites, we have made it okay to turn people into victims and criticize them for their flaws, rather than embrace them for their differences. The consequences of this negativity are dire; for one thing, 24 million Americans suffer from an eating disorder.

Two weeks ago, tabloids and websites were flooded with photos of Lady Gaga from her most recent performance in Amsterdam. But the focus wasn’t on her show; it was on her appearance. Many critical remarks were made about the 26-year-old songstress: that she had “pilled on the pounds” and “has suddenly fattened up.”

Gaga responded to these remarks by going on a radio show and admitting she had gained 25 pounds, and that she was happy with her curvier physique. But the media continued its rant against Gaga and her new figure – until she decided to put a stop to it.

Lady Gaga has one of the largest fan followings on Facebook and Twitter, and she has even built her own social media website dedicated to her fans, or, as she likes to call them, her “Little Monsters.” So, when she wanted to spark an initiative to counter the negative press, it was heard quickly, loudly and clearly by all. On September 25, Gaga posted a series of un-retouched photos of herself wearing just her bra and underwear with a caption that read “Anorexic and Bulimic since I was 15.”

That in itself would have been enough to silence the haters, but Gaga did not stop there. She took advantage of the opportunity to turn a negative into a positive, and she launched an initiative called the “Body Revolution.” She took to her website and told her fans:

“Be brave and celebrate with us your 'perceived flaws,' as society tells us. May we make our flaws famous, and thus redefine the heinous…Now that the body revolution has begun, be brave and post a photo of you that celebrates your triumph over insecurities."

Within hours, littlemonsters.com was flooded with thousands of personal photos, comments and gratitude to Gaga for starting the Body Revolution. Fans have been posting photos of themselves with captions that tell their story and how they are embracing their differences and loving themselves for who they are.

Lady Gaga has built her career on reassuring her fans’ insecurities, and her Body Revolution is an extension of that. So often, we have heard media figures talk about how they want to make a difference, but it seems that Gaga is one of the first to achieve success. Everyone that has joined in Gaga’s Body Revolution shares in the belief that it's time to make a change in how we treat one another. It’s time to stop with the negativity and start with the compassion. Yes, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion as to what beauty is, but no one should feel that it is their right to negatively affect others with harmful words.

In a time when there is more and more sadness and uncertainty in the world, something that no one should have to face is insecurity about the body they were born with. Now, more than ever, men and women need to join together and support each other, rather than exploit one another. There is no reason for someone to feel self-conscious about his or her flaws or distinctive characteristics. Our world is composed of different people and that is what makes it unique. We need to embrace the values of respect and compassion and help our country return back to its original state as “the land of the free, and the home of the brave.”

Reach Contributor Lugene El-Harazi here.