Adele- a positive body image role model ?

Adele:
“I’ve never wanted to look like models on the cover of magazines. I represent the majority of women and I’m very proud of that.”

At 23 the British singer Adele has the music world at her feet. Anyone who saw her take out 6 awards at the 54th Grammy Awards earlier this month will testify to the fact that she looked and carried herself with the upmost of confidence and poise.

Her down to earth attitude and the experience of growing up on the rougher side of London have helped her to work hard to achieve her dream.

This makes her a wonderful role model for young women worldwide. She is talented, beautiful and proud of who she is and how she looks, and she has every right to be proud of her curves.

Yet the likes of Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld seem unable to look beyond their superficial world of stick thin girls to see the amazing young woman that is Adele.

His recent comments in an interview with Metro US are incredulous: “But as a modern singer [Lana Del Rey] is not bad. The thing at the moment is Adele. She is a little too fat.” What gives this man the right to be so harsh and critical about the external appearance of another person? Fashion mogul and body bully; yes, decent human being; definitely not. These comments were made despite the fact that she appeared on the cover of Vogue last October looking gorgeous.

However, Adele herself has a really positive attitude to her body image and has embraced her curves, refusing to succumb to the pressures of the fashion world, Hollywood and media to be ‘thin’.

The singer told Vogue: “I’ve seen people where it rules their lives, you know, who want to be thinner or have bigger boobs, and how it wears them down. And I just don’t want that in my life.”

She continued “It’s just never been an issue – at least, I’ve never hung out with the sort of horrible people who make it an issue. I have insecurities, of course, but I don’t hang out with anyone who points them out to me.”

Adele has good cause to be proud of her achievements and her body, she looked great in Armani at the Grammy’s and she has a fantastic philosophy about life and her beautiful curves.

Dr Rick Kausman, Director of Butterfly Foundation and Generation Next speaker will address the issue of body image at the Mental Health & Wellbeing of Young People seminars which are being held throughout all major cities in Australia during 2012.