Everyone can name one artist who strikes them on a personal level. For me, that artist is Adele. Even though her music is the opposite of most of my music preferences, I still cannot help jacking up the volume and belting out her overplayed songs every time they grace the speakers of my car’s radio.
I am only one of many die-hard Adele fans. Women of all kinds identify with Adele’s music. Recently, I have heard Adele praised with the title of “role model,” because fans believe that her life represents the life of the ‘every woman.’ In many ways Adele’s life seems to encompass the ideals of a great female role model.
Yet, when I sing along to her songs, a part of me wonders why I identify so easily with the words. I even start to worry about what this role model is telling young generations of women through her music. Any Adele fan knows that 100 percent of her songs revolve around a man. This alone upholds the media’s idea that women have little to concern themselves with except their quest to find the perfect man. What I find most worrisome is that Adele’s lyrics suggest that no self-respecting woman gets the man.
In “Daydreamer,” Adele sings about a man who “could change the world with his hands behind his back.” Yet, it seems that the only thing the women of Adele’s songs are changing is themselves. Adele subtly upholds the idea that a man’s needs are more important than a woman’s and, therefore, the woman is required to make any and all sacrifices to assure her man’s happiness. Furthermore, these women actually desire to change themselves in the name of love. In “Take It All,” Adele proclaims, “I will change if I must. Everything I do is for you.” How did altering one’s personality become a romantic notion?
The idea is simply what Adele says: “There’s nothing that I wouldn’t do to make you feel my love.” No wonder female listeners are so attracted to Adele’s music. Her core argument is for a belief in love, but women should not be taught that they must change themselves in order to have love.
Once Adele’s ‘everywoman’ has thoroughly changed herself, she must also sacrifice her own well-being in order to maintain her relationship. Today, most people believe that America is past the days of objectifying women with domestic abuse. Yet, media still refuses to adhere to this wishful thinking. In Adele’s music, abuse is even portrayed as romantic. In her song “Best for Last,” she sings, “the meaner you treat me [the] more eager I am.” Adele’s “Tired” even gives the man an excuse for his behavior: “You’re in the heat of the moment with your heart playing up cold.” She encourages women to buy into the myth that an abusive man, though wrong, is still acting out of love, so the woman’s responsibility is to make any sacrifice necessary to preserve that love. In “Crazy for You,” Adele’s lyrics, “Every time I turn around to leave instead I fall back to my knees and you tear your way right through me,” encourage the media’s modern view of abuse, and construe the pain of abuse as a result of love. Her songs are telling women that they are better off in an abusive relationship than they are not having a man to love at all.
As if giving up who she is and accepting physical and mental abuse from her mate are not enough, Adele’s ‘every-woman’ must also alienate herself from all other women in order to secure her man. In fact, the only women Adele ever finds time to make mention of in her music are those that have posed some threat to her relationships. The song “Rumor Has It” even tells the story of the protagonist stealing her man back from the woman who stole him from her. Then, jealousy rears its ugly head in “Cold Shoulder” when Adele sings, “Whenever you look at me, I wish I was her.” Never once do Adele’s stories tell of another woman except in reference to who gets the man. As far as Adele’s ‘every-woman’ is concerned, if she wishes to be in a relationship, she must only concern herself with other women if they threaten her relationship.
Ultimately, Adele’s ‘every-woman’ is forced to choose to live in utter depression (because that is what women do without men), or to sacrifice all of her respect for herself and her fellow women in the name of love. If only Adele would sing about the aspects of her life that make women look up to her: a successful career, a happy marriage, and a positive body image. Then, she could be a real role model for women and feminism in today’s world. Instead, her songs oppose the very ideals young women should be learning. Of course, Adele is not the only singer perpetuating these lies. The media is constantly shoving them down viewers’ throats, and hiding them behind the guise of empowered women like Adele. Also like Adele, these lies are easy to love. However, the advancement of equality requires that people critically evaluate media and its messages, no matter how difficult it may be.
Joy Wilson is a third-year student majoring in communication studies.She can be reached at JW794401@wcupa.edu.