Kelly Clarkson, the Role Model Next Door

Arun Nevader/WireImage

Kelly Clarkson performing in May.

THE other night, Danielle Travali, 25, was listening to Kelly Clarksons new album, Stronger. Ms. Travali has fought her brigade of demons and then some, describing herself as an eating-disorders survivor.

I am not a schmaltzy type, said Ms. Travali, who edits an online womens magazine in Fairfield, Conn., during a phone interview. But as Ms. Clarkson sang The War Is Over, she said, tears were rolling down my face. As someone who has struggled with low self-esteem and body image, I have such a strong appreciation for powerful women who sing their truth. Kellys songs are not just about failed relationships with others, but failed relationships with ourselves. Boom! Im learning here: What did I do to hurt me?

For a decade, Ms. Clarkson has been belting power-pop hits like I Do Not Hook Up and Since U Been Gone, and dismissing withering criticism of her weight. As a result, her fans have built a distinctive relationship with her: less that of conventional adulation than of identification and admiration.

You get a sense that shes one of us, Ms. Travali said.

That connection has been reinforced by Stronger, released last week, which the singer describes as her own journey of empowerment, addressed directly to fans. On one song, You Cant Win, Ms. Clarkson, 29, sings, If youre thin/Poor little walking disease/If youre not/Theyre all screaming obese/If youre straight/Why arent you married yet?/If youre gay/Why arent you waving a flag?

The bond was apparent Thursday, at a Manhattan taping of VH1 Unplugged: Kelly ! Clarkson , which has its premiere Nov. 18. Ms. Clarksons appeal reached across generations of women.

Linda Scott, 52, who traveled with her husband from Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, said that her daughter, 24, was also a passionate fan. Celebrating joint birthdays at the taping were Jolie Rosen, 14, and her mother, Cynthia Kroning (who gave her age as old enough to be her mother) of Norwood, N.J.

Kellys not afraid to discuss anything, said Mrs. Kroning, a fan by dint of driving teenage girls around with the car radio blasting. Referring to a cut on Stronger, she added, What Doesnt Kill You (Stronger), should be an anthem.

At the taping, Ms. Clarksons genial unflappability came across from the get-go. Finishing a bluesy cover of Carrie Underwoods I Know You Wont, she glanced down at her red body-hugging sheath dress. She laughed and tugged at the top.

Oh, my God! Had she been spilling out of her dress the whole time? she asked.

That poise has gotten her through years of sometimes-harsh jabs. On the video for her first single, Mr. Know It All, Ms. Clarkson looks skeptically at a wall papered with news clippings that have sniped at her weight, challenged her sexuality and ridiculed her rebellion against music-label executives. Then she tears an opening through her paper wall of shame and jauntily steps into a sun-soaked landscape.

At the taping, she stepped into a powerful Mr. Know It All, mother-and-daughter fans bobbing and lip-syncing. Afterward, Ms. Clarkson shook her head, abashed.

I flubbed the lyrics, damn it, she said. And I knew it when I was doing it, too. So why didnt I just stop? Its just like my relationships!

The makeup people dabbed at her face. As they turned away, Ms. Clarkson wiped her lips, mouthing to the audience, Too much!

In an interview, Courtney E. Martin, author of Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters, said, Theres so much talk a! bout Tay lor Swift being the girl next door the role played by the singer in her video for You Belong With Me but shes tall and blond, the girl that the girl next door wants to be. But with Kelly, you sense that she really is the girl next door. She acknowledges more complexity than most stars talk about.

For any woman to not only own her body size at an average womans weight is amazing, let alone to own weight gain without shaming and stigmatizing it publicly. Its a difficult line to walk because Kellys private. She doesnt want to be known as the fat activist pop star. Thats not her mantle.