OPINION: Does size always matter? Not in this case

I guess that millions of words have already been written about Michelle McManus, who won Pop Idol just before Christmas and is now number one in the charts. I was delighted by her success, which beat the odds and broke the mould. That mould has, for some time, been that a prospective female pop star must conform to an image that Jenni Murray in The Independent depicted as the "galloping hairgrip" - a skinny waif prancing around "showing off far too much of what little she has". Michelle is a striking contrast - a big girl with a great voice - and has already suffered, as a result, from insults in the tabloid press that she is "too fat" and "grossly overweight".

A few years ago I gave a talk in Bratislava about socialisation and stereotypes.

I prepared for it by perusing a range of teenage magazines read both by young women and young men. The images of young women in both sets of magazines conformed to the pop star stereotype that verged on the anorexic. Indeed, there was serious public policy concern that teenage girls would increasingly be starving themselves into desired shapes that in fact bear little relation to what is normal and healthy. Now Michelle comes along, projecting a very different image of success. I recalled my very deliberate appointment of a woman, equally overweight and also a very good semi-professional singer, as a part-time youth worker because I wanted a different kind of "role model" for the girls in the youth club. I wanted them to see that a "bigger person" could exude confidence and command attention.

There are, however, some problems with Michelle's achievement. The attention of public policy has recently switched, quite dramatically, from preoccupations with anorexia and bulimia to deep concerns about the levels of obesity caused by too much junk food and too little exercise. One in three children and young people are overweight. One in six of them are considered to be clinically obese. In less than 10 years, the number of children and young people with weight problems has risen by more than 50 per cent.

Of course, young people may not wish to emulate Michelle. But while we should applaud her success against the run of the current tide, we should beware turning her into an alternative "role model". This would be a swing of the pendulum too far. Michelle is clearly not a "greedy, overindulgent, idle slob", as she has self-effacingly referred to herself. If she was, she would not have got this far. The role model to be projected is of an individual who has worked hard on her abilities and displayed a sense of self-belief. Too much attention to her size and shape is both misguided and unhelpful.