Adele Lost Weight and It’s None of Our Business
Commenting on body changes without context is harmful
This week Adele joined the pandemic birthday club, where you can’t have a party, so you have to put on your little black dress and take selfies at home. She celebrated by posting a photo on her Instagram account, recognizing her special day and thanking first responders for all the work they’re doing to keep the rest of us safe. Then, the internet exploded.
You see, Adele appears to have lost a noticeable amount of weight. And people have feelings. My first glimpse of the immensely scrutinized photo was as part of an article on CNN’s website titled “Adele lost weight, are we allowed to praise that?” I immediately felt my hackles rise.
The answer? Absolutely not.
Can you notice that her body changed? Of course. But should you be congratulating her, celebrating, or praising that loss? No. Writer Audra Williams boiled it down on Twitter, pointing out why praising and encouraging something without context is a terrible idea:
Celebrating Adele’s weight loss is a garbage thing to do for a million reasons. Here are two:
1. It tells your fat friends you think their bodies are a problem to be solved.
2. The weight loss could be the…
