Cara Delevingne’s biggest difficulty in life is ‘feeling ashamed of my emotions’

World premiere of 'Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets'

This Cara Delevingne Elle UK cover is like, a high fashion take on the Shibe Meme, right? I’m surprised the cover lines weren’t “Cara. Wow. Much Fashion. Such Polka Dots. Very Eyeliner. I Can Has Nepotism” in comic sans. Anyway, Cara covers the September issue of Elle UK and man, I have such mixed feelings about her hair. On one side, she has the face for a severe buzzcut like this, and if anything, she looks more striking than ever. On the other side, Elle used too much product and she sort of looks like a 12-year-old boy who just discovered hair gel. Cara covers the September issue because she’s promoting her first Young Adult novel, Mirror, Mirror. Yes, Cara writes (or she has a ghostwriter). Some highlights from Elle UK:

On the most difficult time in her life so far: ‘Probably [as] a teenager, especially with school and not giving yourself a break…That was the biggest lesson I had to learn: to communicate my emotions properly. I’m still learning how to do that It felt like I was completely alone and I couldn’t express myself because I felt ashamed of my emotions. I want to make sure that kids realise that emotions and vulnerability are important and should be spoken about.’

On feeling empowered: ‘It’s about being in the moment and being yourself. You can’t think about being empowered. It’s a feeling that comes from inside.’

On what led her to write a novel for teenagers: ‘I’ve always had this wonderful connection with teenagers…Just having girls message me being like, ‘I’m really dealing with the pressure of my thoughts, my friends, eating disorders.’ That kind of thing, where I was like, I have an opportunity to really be there for them and help…be a voice for teens and be honest as to how I suffered as a teenager.’

On the message she wants readers to take from Mirror, Mirror:
‘That life is a beautiful mixture of wonderful disaster, but to truly love yourself is so important.’

On being a positive role model: ‘When you’re a teenager you’re all looking for someone to idolise. Seeing the effect people like me have on teenagers now has made me conscious of kids having strong, positive role models who are trying to do good outside of themselves.’

On whether she will write any more books:
‘Yes. I have so many more things I want to write. This is something that I wanted to do for other people, but honestly it was for myself too. I needed to see whether I could. We all had to do creative writing and English, but I didn’t enjoy it as much because I felt forced. Whereas now, that’s all I do. I’ve just spent a week by myself in Germany, walking around the Alps, writing and sitting on top of a hill. That’s when I feel like I get the most out of my days.’

[From Elle UK]

On one side, of course I realize that tweens and teens need to hear that everybody struggles, that no one is perfect, that they too will come out of the difficult years intact. On the other side, I’ll admit to thinking “why are kids always in such a rush to feel aggrieved?” Like, everybody struggles, but a lot of those struggles – for the tweens and teens in Cara’s audience – are just normal, everyday adolescent bulls–t. It’s like Special Snowflake Syndrome writ large for these kids today – everybody loves to feel like they’re being so oppressed. Is puberty “oppression”? Is it really such a “struggle” that Cara felt like it was difficult to express herself?

World premiere of 'Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets'

Photos courtesy of Kai Z Feng for Elle UK.

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16 Responses to “Cara Delevingne’s biggest difficulty in life is ‘feeling ashamed of my emotions’”

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  1. Shambles says:

    She looks insanely beautiful. The buzz cut is the hair for her. So stunning. It brings out her tiger eyes.

    • elimaeby says:

      Came here to say the same. I have never been too wild about her (no pun intended, in regards to her tiger eyes), but she is STUNNING in this spread.

  2. GiBee says:

    Yawn. Once you realise she’s Britain’s version of Eric Trump she gets old fast.

  3. Losers says:

    Considering she has talked about feeling suicidal and her severe depression before, I’m guessing this is more than just “growing up sucks”.

    • Shaz says:

      Yeah, and bullies in school make it hard to be vulnerable. Putting your feeling out there and having someone call you names kinda proves her point.

  4. Mop top says:

    I feel bad for saying this, but I liked her a lot better when she was beautiful and mysterious. Unfortunately, she then opened her mouth and talked.

  5. CharlieBouquet says:

    She is so beautiful it hurts, and I am not into fashion. I think the more teens can process and vocalize feelings, the less bullies are created or allowed. I hope anyway, my son is 4 and never had a hair cut. His father and I are long hairs. Kids and parents say the grossest things about his hair. Like saying he will get bullied for it
    Etc. Right in front of him. I just say we will deal with head on and he will hopefully have the confidence. When it happens now he says no I am a boy, I am 4 and says his name and then they play, it’s the parents that do the bullying honestly, kids learn much of it at home.

  6. ISSAQUEEN says:

    Kids these days seem so…fragile.

    • GiBee says:

      There must be something in between “You’re mommy’s most special darling and deserve to be coddled every day of your life!” and “Suck it up and be tough”. Neither of those work well.

    • vaultdweller101 says:

      It’s a transitional period in society. A lot of the old traditions, structures and guideposts have been blown away, which leads to a certain amount of stress among people.

      That, and kids — people, really — have always been pretty fragile emotionally. You just had a much better chance of dying in ye olden days before it dragged on too much.

    • QueenB says:

      The question is: Are they or is it just more in the open?

  7. Nicole says:

    She’s so pretty and photographs well. But other than that…she’s not great. Her singing is no. Her acting is an even bigger no.

  8. Crys737 says:

    Caras biggest difficulty is acting. Girl is as interesting as bread on screen.

  9. Lionika says:

    Stunning face. Rubbish clothes.

  10. QueenB says:

    Of course she also has a book out. As if nepotism shouldnt only be limited to one profession…

  11. raincoaster says:

    I believe her that being ashamed of anything was the biggest difficulty in her life. Her life hasn’t had that many difficulties. She has such a close connection to teens because she was one until half a dozen years ago.