When I was 13 years old, I was obsessed with American Idol - it was practically the only thing I would ever talk about. I became incredibly attached to one of the contestants on Season 10 of the show -- 16 year old Georgia native Lauren Alaina. I watched her rise to the top, voting for her religiously every single week. When she did not win and was runner-up to country star Scotty McCreery, I was crushed. She did have a bit of success with her debut album, Wildflower, but I grew into high school life, was slammed with constant school work, and drifted from following the career of the country artist. Although I was slightly unaware, she also began to drift away from her career and success for a few years. However, with the announcement of her upcoming album and the popularity of her latest single, Road Less Traveled, our paths have crossed again.
In July of this year, I stumbled upon a Rolling Stone article which revealed that Lauren had suffered from a major eating disorder, and I was shocked. I learned that the now 22-year-old suffered from bulimia while she was on American Idol, partially due to the mean comments that were spread across the internet about her weight when she was on the show. This absolutely broke my heart, because I wished I could have done something to help her. She remembered reading comments online where people had called her “Miss Piggy,” and had photoshopped her face onto the Muppet’s body. Reading this brought me back to 2011 again - I remember the exact website she was talking about, titled “Vote for the Worst,” where people would convince the general public to vote for the worst contestant on the show, rather than the best - they were the main reason Sanjaya Malakar made it so far on season six. People were constantly judging Lauren’s every move, outfit, and song choice on this website, to the point that it made me feel completely uncomfortable and helpless. I knew there was nothing I could do to stop them. I decided that the only thing I could do was not look at the website and block their Twitter account from appearing on my feed at all. I had never thought about the fact that Lauren could have seen those awful posts. That impacted me so much as a middle schooler, and it made me nauseous when I realized that they hurt her significantly.
After her run on American Idol, Lauren reached the height of her bulimia and desperately wanted nothing more than to be thin. She was painfully skinny, and focusing on her body image caused her to stray away from other priorities in her life - such as her music career. Without her mother by her side, she may not have survived. Her mom, Kristy, made her stand in front of a mirror every day and name three things that she liked about herself. At first, this was painfully difficult for her, however, slowly but surely she learned to love herself for who she is.
Because of this struggle with bulimia, along with other personal issues, Lauren stepped out of the spotlight for a few years, but has returned to spread a message of confidence and self-love. Her most recent single, and her first country radio top 20 hit, Road Less Traveled, encourages women to hold their heads high and not let what others say get to them. My favorite section from the song is:
Dress sizes can't define, don't let the world decide what's beautiful
You won't make yourself a name if you follow the rules
History gets made when you're acting a fool
So don't hold it back and just run it, show what you got and just own it
No, they can't tear you apart
Along with the powerful message that the song has, the music video brings to life Lauren’s personal journey with self-acceptance. She revisits younger versions of herself who are reading mean comments, looking in the mirror, and refusing to eat, encouraging them to stray away from society’s opinions. The song itself is an anthem for Lauren, who, although still has bad days (like anyone), proclaims victory over the disorder that almost cost her her life.
In a society where young girls are constantly judged for their appearances, and eating disorders are more common than one would expect, Road Less Traveled is important. Girls always want to look like the women they see in the magazines and on TV, but most of these women are too skinny and have perfect hair and skin that is often photoshopped. The fact that the media spreads the idea to young girls that being underweight is 'normal' is not okay. A majority of young girls are insecure about their bodies due to the media, and feel that they are under pressure to attain a certain image, when in reality, this is not true. Lauren is attempting to spread the message that the media’s depiction of “beauty” is not always accurate - she does not want the world to decide what is truly beautiful, as beauty should be defined by the individual.
Watching this single be the first of Lauren’s to hit country radio top 20 was one of my favorite moments of being a fan of hers. Over the past six years, she has grown from an insecure teenager to a beautiful, inspirational young woman, and I could not be happier for her. As this single continues to climb the country charts, I hope that the message of love and self-worth is spread to every young girl that needs to hear it.
