How glorifying a new look can be a bad thing
Messaging around singer’s viral photo leads into diet culture, activist says
Adele came out of her Instagram hiatus with a bang on her birthday, with a post that immediately went viral, as the picture showcases her dramatic weight loss. But body activists want nothing to do with the narrative that took over the internet, with people praising the singer for the debut of her new look.
Amanda (Ama) Scriver, 36, is a Toronto-based freelance journalist and body image advocate. She woke up on Wednesday to see Adele’s post and that image all over her feeds. In response, Scriver took to her Twitter and social channels with a post that read: “Really wasn’t expecting to wake up to so much fatphobic garbage on the timeline this morning, but here we are. This whole Adele narrative is a big yikes. To all my pals out there who may be struggling today: I see you. Weight loss does not equal health. Your body is beautiful.”
In a call with the Star she says it’s not so much the picture itself that’s the problem, it’s more the posts and comments of people dissecting Adele’s body alongside the photo. For example, comments like, “Look at Adele’s glow up! Isn’t she just so much more beautiful?!”
“Adele is objectively so talented and so beautiful, it’s about really breaking down what these comments are about,” Scriver said. “Adele, whether she’s fat or thin, is a gorgeous individual and we are seeing these comments veiled in fat phobia. What they are basically saying is because she’s thinner, she’s now valued more as a person.” It’s this messaging, she says, that leads into diet culture. “The fact is we don’t know what’s going on with Adele right now. We don’t know anything about Adele’s health history. We just shouldn’t be commenting on her body period,” Scriver said.
She says that a lot of times people don’t have an understanding how their words can hurt or harm other people, and that they don’t know what the person whose body they’re talking about is going through, like their health history or trauma in their life, which impacts things like drastic weight loss. For example, Scriver says that if someone gains weight when they’re pregnant then lose that weight and you say something like “Oh my god! You look so good now!” you may think you’re providing someone with a compliment, but it’s actually backhanded one.
“For people who are fat like myself and I proudly wear that title and have no shame in that, for me I go out — prior to being locked in my house — I would go spin two to three times a week and eat a 90 per cent vegetarian diet, and those things don’t matter. But when people see me online or out in the streets, they make assumptions about the way that I eat, or the way that I conduct myself and my health history,” Scriver said. “We can’t make assumptions about other people’s bodies and that ties into concerned trolling about other peoples health or diet culture and glorifying thinness.”
Kyla Fox is a clinical therapist, who works with people suffering from eating disorders. She tells the Star that this photo of Adele is specifically triggering for people with a history of eating disorders. “We want to believe that people we look up to are comfortable in their body just as it is. Adele represented full-figured women everywhere, giving more space for inclusivity and diversification of what beauty is.” She says that the thought process of someone who experiences disordered eating is, “Maybe I’m not good enough then.” “Was she that unhappy that she had to transform herself.” “I guess what I believed about beauty standards — thin is idealized — was true.”
“See, I was right, the only way to be happy and beautiful is to be thin,” Fox said.
The world will always be triggering and Fox says that unfortunately we cannot be protected from it. “Being triggered, in my opinion, means that there’s things that you might need to look at, address, uncover, deeper within yourself,” said Fox. “Talking through this, discovering what that/those pieces may be, will allow you to feel safer, less vulnerable, in the world. Therapy will address all this — We get to all the deep stuff!!”
A quick Google search shows that everyone seems to have some sort of opinion of Adele’s viral post, whether applauding her transformation, or body positivity activists trying to get the message across that all bodies are beautiful. So, is there a “right” or “healthy” response to this photo?
“It would be healthy for us to allow her truth about it to be what’s real instead of all the assumptions. Why did she embark on changing her body? What are the deeper pieces for her beneath the weight gain/ loss? Was she suffering with an eating disorder then? Is she now?” Fox said. “I think we need to know that her transformation into thinness is obviously layered and that it may not mean she’s rejecting a fuller figure or praising thinness. Maybe it means she’s facing herself (or not) in ways we don’t know. The body is a language and hers is in bold caps right now.”
Celebrities bodies have long been the cause of headlines. Jessica Simpson — who covers the media’s focus on her fluctuating size in her candid biography “Open Book,” which came out earlier this year — reminded us of that last week in a lengthy Instagram post calling out Sally Singer, former Vogue creative digital director, for body shaming her on the magazine’s website in their feature “Only at the Met: An Oral History of the World’s Most Glamorous Gala.”
This type of coverage and criticism is typical for those in the public eye, but is even more so triggering for others during a pandemic. Fox says that’s because we have so little control over life right now. “We have so little predictability and clarity. There are so many feelings of fear around the unknown: Will I have my job back? When will my kids go to school? Will I see my mom again?” said Fox. “The uncertainty is overwhelming and this leads people to play out those feelings with food, either overeating or denying themselves, all to soothe and numb emotions,” Fox said. She suggests creating structured mealtimes and to join with others (online if you’re alone), to engage with food thoughtfully, slowly and safely.
As for those pesky pandemiccentric memes referring to gaining the COVID 15 — a spin on the Freshman 15 — being shared? “We’re all trying to survive an unbelievable time. It’s unbelievable to me that this becomes a cultural focus when so much is at stake,” Fox said. “Let’s be easier with ourselves, support each other, be kinder about how we are managing day to day. Let’s not coat this time with body shame and harm.”