You’d be hard pressed to find someone who isn’t, somewhere deep down, at least the tiniest bit in love with Kelly Clarkson. How could you not love her? We all know the story: An ex-cocktail waitress plucked from obscurity, voted on by America and transformed into a superstar. She is the pop star next door; an everywoman with an otherworldly talent. Her voice is clear and in command, as is – from the looks of things – her life. Which, once again, only makes you love her more.
What quite possibly makes us love Kelly the most is that she is so refreshingly, confidently herself. She is still a spunky gal from Texas who just wants to sing her heart out. The blinding glare of celebrity that can cripple so many into self doubt and self loathing has not changed who she is. And who she is is a gal who sometimes weighs a little more, sometimes a little less, but always looks entirely normal and altogether fantastic. As she told SELF magazine:
“My happy weight changes. Sometimes I eat more; sometimes I play more. I’ll be different sizes all the time. When people talk about my weight, I’m like, ‘You seem to have a problem with it; I don’t. I’m fine!’”
This of course makes the recent brouhaha around her airbrushed SELF cover all the more ironic. The very magazine in which she professed her happiness with who she is is apparently not all that happy with who she is. Why else would they Photoshop her to be who she is not? And why, after admitting to the airbrushing, would they say it was an attempt to make her “look her personal best.” No, you’re trying to make her look like who she isn’t. Which is not her personal best; it’s make believe. Also, if your goal (as the editor professed) is to “inspire women to want to be their best,” how can they possibly attain that when what they are aspiring to is pure fiction? Thanks for setting us all up for eternal failure.
Look, I hadn’t intended on turning this into a very special body awareness week on Surrenders, but the world keeps making me repeat myself. Some airbrushing is inevitable. But the wholesale rearranging of a human being is not. Must we learn, once again, from the wisdom of Angela Chase? “People are so strange and so complicated that they’re actually... beautiful. Possibly even me.” And definitely Kelly. Happy weekend, all.
Beyoncé may have emphatically sung about going “to the left, to the left,” but today is all about the right. No, not the state of being correct or, banish the thought, the political affiliation. I’m talking about the actual physical direction. As in turn to your right. Your other right, Brittany. Hey, not all the themes are deep. But they are hot. So without further ado, all righty then.
Well, there’s always a contrarian.
Well, there’s always a contrarian.
