Bursting the Bubble: LDS Living and Adele's Modesty

This post is a response to LDS Living’s, “Adele: Modesty Crucial to Success“.

I love Adele. This is because:

a.) I am a human being capable of feeling emotions.

and b.) She is a phenomenal singer.

While I can also appreciate Adele’s usually flawless winged eyeliner and classy style, the way she looks doesn’t increase or decrease my love for her. She is a singer, and I love her singing. I also love her witty personality and general awesomeness.

Despite my article for LDS Living on modesty where I talked about how fixation on appearance is what the Book of Mormon condemns, not how little clothing women wear, the site appears to have fallen back into its old ways. It’s a shame, because Mormons really liked that article. This week, we see a Mormon website/blog once again obsessing over how women dress, while Mormon models who pose topless are praised for being inspirational. (You are super hot, Lucky. Keep killing it.)

As a hardcore Adele lover, I find it offensive that LDS Living is twisting her words to suit their own purposes, that I highly doubt she’d agree with. I also resent the notion that her success is in any way impacted by the way she chooses to dress.

The article bases itself on a quote Adele gave to the Daily Bubble:

Exploiting yourself sexually is not a good look. I don’t find it encouraging.”

I absolutely agree with Adele – seeing incredibly talented women fall victim to the sex-crazed music industry can often be disheartening. They shouldn’t need to wear underwear to be noticed for their voices and other musical abilities. I think it’s awesome that Adele relies on her voice to get attention—and she’s freaking successful at doing so!

Here’s the thing though, LDS Living—”exploiting yourself sexually” is not the same as wearing a strapless dress. By Mormonism’s modesty standards, Taylor Swift regularly exploits herself sexually:

What a hussy, right? No. Taylor Swift, while very sexy, does not “exploit herself”. She is known for her music, whatever your opinion of it might be.

I can’t help but feel that LDS Living’s praise of Adele for her modesty is just as frustrating as those who were offended by Lindsey Stirling’s (perfectly modest by all reasonable standards) dress last year.

Adele dresses the way that she does because it’s a style that looks amazing on her. I’m not a fan of strapless dresses on myself either, but it’s an opinion I have because of my body type, not a desire to stop men thinking about me sexually. (If you can’t control yourself because of a strapless, above-the-knee dress, you have issues.)

Adele is not successful because she “dresses modestly”. She’s successful because she’s insanely talented. Also, on an unrelated note, she loves wine.