It’s 2023, yet somehow, Adele’s body is still fair game for judgement and scrutiny.

The Oh My God singer dominated nominations at the 2023 Grammy Awards, up for seven major gongs including Best Single for Easy On Me and Album of the Year for 30. But it wasn’t Adele’s accolades or remarkable talent that social media saw fit to comment on during the ceremony, but her appearance. Specifically, her widely-reported weight loss.

Adele’s weight loss dominated headlines in 2020, praising her “amazing new body”, questioning her “weight loss secrets”, and speculating as to her exact fitness regime and even what she ate in a day. So obsessed was the internet with Adele’s body, that the singer was forced to acknowledge her “100 pound weight loss” and body image in 2021. “People are shocked because I didn’t share my ‘journey,'” Adele said to Vogue. “They’re used to people documenting everything on Instagram, and most people in my position would get a big deal with a diet brand. I couldn’t give a flying f*ck. I did it for myself and not anyone else. So why would I ever share it? I don’t find it fascinating. It’s my body.”

Sadly, things haven’t changed. The internet was awash with comments on Adele’s weight loss during the 2023 Grammys. “Adele isn’t fat anymore”; “OMG Adele lost more weight,” “Adele looks sooo skinny”; and some even suggested that she give Lizzo – who she was sat next to – “weight loss tips”.

It’s so disheartening to see that our obsession with the way women look – specifically, their weight – still continues to take precedence over their personalities, strengths and accomplishments. The growing conversation around body acceptance and toxic beauty standards has taught us that the way we look should be the least interesting thing about us, yet here we are, still reducing Adele to the number she sees when she steps on the scales. As if it’s any of our damn business.

Kevin Mazur

Diet culture is so deeply entrenched in our society that women simply can’t win. When Adele existed in a bigger body, the fatphobic rhetoric was rampant and unrelenting. Now that her body is smaller, she exists under some sort of size microscope; any fluctuations in her weight apparently fair game for scrutiny, ridicule or faux-concern.

Why do we still think it’s OK to pass unwelcome, unsolicited comments on the way a woman looks? I’m pretty sure none of the men who took to the Grammys red carpet were subjected to the same physical critique that Adele was. Do we think male celebrities should be swapping weight loss tips or sharing how they got “sooo skinny”? I highly doubt it.

Until we reach a collective understanding that it’s never OK to comment on a woman’s weight – whether they’re in the public eye or not – we are never going to unravel the dangerous glorification of thinness that still persists in our society. And we will never stop reducing women like Adele to the least interesting thing about them – the way they look.