Kelly Clarkson Talks Music Industry Sexism

(Radio.com) Kelly Clarkson won the first season of American Idol in 2002 and has ridden the waves of fame for 16 years since. Clarkson recently opened up about the pressure she faced to project a "sexy" image when she was starting out in the industry.

"I was showed magazines of girls naked with guitars, and they were telling me that's what I'm competing with, and I was like, 'I'm not competing with that,'" Clarkson told Rolling Stone. "And they always wanted, like, the sexier songs - not even good sexy songs - because that sells."

Early clashes with industry execs gave Clarkson a core set of operating principles. "I never record a song I don't feel I can relate to in some sense, that I can't make work in my world. Compromising is OK. But compromising who you are as a human is not."
On a lighter note, Clarkson was asked if her kids knew about 2002's From Justin to Kelly, the film she made post-American Idol. The movie has had a way of resurfacing in her life -- against her wishes. Read her response here.

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