Tracee Ellis Ross recreates her mom Diana Ross' iconic music video from 1981

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Tracee Ellis Ross has finally revealed that secret project she’s been working on: a recreation of her mother’s fabulous “Work that Body” video!

The Black-ish star explained why she felt the need to pay homage to the 1981 cult-classic video when she said that her mother had already had her three oldest children when she made the video.

“I was watching and thinking: why does watching this woman dancing around in barely any clothes with her tush to the camera make me feel joyful and empowered when the same kind of image in most music videos today doesn’t give me that feeling?” Ross wrote on her website, and also posted to Instagram.

https://instagram.com/p/6tKk_hmRtz/

I know this is my mom… so obviously I’m projecting a connection and I know it was a different time, it was the 80’s. But still, it didn’t feel like she was dancing as a presentation of herself or like she was offering up her bits, which I feel like most videos are these days. Often in today’s images (moving and still), we are being objectified or we objectifying ourselves. I think it is meant to be an empowered act, a reclaiming of our bodies. But that is not always what it feels like to me. I am not intending to judge, just exploring with curiosity.

And then it hit me: My mom felt whole and connected …and in her body in this video. I have spoken before about encouraging women to shift our gaze from how we are seen to how we are seeing and, more important, feeling. And I saw a woman feeling joyful in herself as a whole being; she didn’t seem to be presenting her ass or saying look at all the ways I can make myself look appealing to YOU. She seems to be saying, ‘this is ME feeling good and I am strong and sexy and joyful in ME!’

So, I decided to recreate the video and try to feel the joy of being in my body while offering up tribute to my glorious mother.