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20 years ago, Raven-Symoné—actress, executive producer, and singer—released her compilation album, From Then Until. The huge Disney star was popularizing a collection of her older songs dating well before 2006. Her music career began in 1992, when she was only 7 years old, and her name grew bigger and bigger day by day. Starring in Disney Channel’s That’s So Raven, her success skyrocketed as the first and youngest Black actress to have a show named after herself. One of the producers, Michael Poryes, went on to create Hannah Montana, starring Miley Cyrus, which is also celebrating a 20th anniversary.

Although Raven-Symoné’s music career feels minuscule to Cyrus’s, no one can forget Symoné’s huge role as Galleria from The Cheetah Girls. Not only was she a main vocalist, but her character also wrote the songs and spearheaded the talented group of girls: a racially confused foster kid, a country bumpkin, and a Latina (also main vocalist). Three movies followed the stories of these teenage girls with big dreams of becoming gigantic stars. However, what rarely gets mentioned is the representation of big girls worldwide. Raven was one of the few—possibly the only—members of an American girl group who was larger than a size 2. What should have felt like breaking the glass ceiling was actually quite painful for Symoné, who has discussed in great detail how the industry imposed body image concerns on her. She was forced to undergo two surgical procedures because of her size when she was as young as 15.

Even though the Cheetah Girls were more successful with Symoné as a member, the industry has yet to allow girl groups and pop stars to have different looks in terms of weight, shape, and size. Hypocritically, Disney highlighted weight stigma in S2 EP8, “That’s So Not Raven.” Symoné’s character was a fashion designer who wanted to model her own designs, yet she was told, “You don’t have the look,” because she wasn’t skinny enough to be a model. However, being plus-size and Black didn’t stop Raven from earning accolades and achieving success as a talented multi-hyphenate. In actuality, the Cheetah Girls were heavily put on the map because of Raven’s star quality and reputation. Yet, her accomplishments opened doors for girls who look nothing like her: Zendaya, Miley Cyrus, and Selena Gomez. A quick glance at these girls’ performances reveals that they studied Symoné’s work as the blueprint, which they even admit to in interviews. Rather than creating opportunities for Black girls who dealt with weight stigma like Raven, her success on Disney was followed by the thin beauty ideal with a little spice: tall, country, and Latina.

One kernel of hope for change has recently come from the series’ creators, Michelle Buteau (Netflix’s Survival of the Thickest) and Natasha Rothwell (Hulu’s How to Die Alone). Buteau shared on Raven-Symoné’s podcast that stories about fat girls were finally being told with fully fleshed-out characterization—all because of Raven’s impact. Even as a little kid, Symoné inspired grown adults to be themselves in an industry that said otherwise. On Keke Palmer’s podcast, Rothwell discussed her experience growing up plus-size and choosing to center plus-size women and beauty on screen as a storyteller. Big girls aren’t just funny sidekicks. 

But what about the music industry? I still can’t think of a current girl group with a plus-size member, unless you look across the pond to Japan. Big Angel is a J-pop group that calls themself a “debu group,” fat in English. They portray angels who fell to earth after becoming heavy from eating in heaven. But this J-pop group represents only a small slice of the music industry, and they still face public stigma. The closest resemblance to this art form in the US is probably the dance competition series, Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls on Prime Video. Clearly, there are still ways to go before weight stigma can be put to rest: allowing artists to be known for their art, not their looks. Plus, the industry should stop relying on the most marginalized members of a group for success, only to throw them aside in the end.