On her Instagram, Ariana Grande posted a carousel of behind-the-scenes photographs from the set of her new music video, “Petal.” “Florescendo com raízes bem firmes. Amo este vídeo de todo o meu coração,” she wrote — blooming with firm roots, loving the video with all her heart. She offered “deep and infinite gratitude” to the collaborators who helped tell the story. The post, days after the video’s 31 July release, was a quiet counterpoint to a storm.

The nearly seven-minute video, the title track of her latest album, had reignited a familiar scrutiny. Viewers commented on the increasing visibility of her bone structure — her sternum, her rib cage. Actress Jameela Jamil called her team “totally irresponsible” for not steering her away from an image she deemed “extremely harmful” for young fans. Grande, 33, has long insisted that commenting on bodies is unacceptable. Her representative told People magazine she would step back from public life after her current tour, citing “endless, ongoing public scrutiny.” Yet Grande herself told fans the pause was not reactive: “It was something I had decided to plan, silently, a long time ago.”

The episode opened a wider lens on how societies talk about women’s bodies. Johanna Kandel, founder of the National Alliance for Eating Disorders, urged people to check their intentions: “What is the purpose of it? ... What is the intent versus the impact?” Rachel Goldman, a psychologist at NYU, said public conversations about celebrity bodies “reinforce the idea that our bodies are open for public discussion, and that’s a message young people are listening to.” The discourse also summoned the ghost of Karen Carpenter, the Carpenters singer who died in 1983 from heart failure linked to anorexia nervosa. The Mexican newspaper Excelsior noted the online comparisons, while stressing there is no public medical information to confirm Grande has an eating disorder. Grande herself has said the body many considered her “healthiest” coincided with one of the most difficult periods of her life.

Amid the noise, Grande’s digital gestures were small but pointed. She liked an Instagram video by psychotherapist Terri Cole, in which the specialist applied lipstick as on-screen text read: “Unfortunately, I can confirm that not everyone will like your healthiest version.” Cole’s caption spoke of growth changing relationships and the need to keep prioritising oneself. During a concert, Grande reassured worried fans: “I heard that my fans were concerned that the negativity was ruining things for me, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.”

In the “Petal” video itself, Grande sings a line that now reads like a thesis: “I don’t need someone to save me, I’m not a victim.” It is a declaration set against a backdrop of constant sizing-up, a reminder that the person at the centre of the frame is also the one holding the camera.