every week or so i get a copy of “the classical post,”minnesota public radio’s
e-newsletter. it helps me feel connected to the music scene at home and
usually has an interesting human interest story or two. this week’s
newsletter featured a blurb about soprano deborah voight, who was
featured last year on 60 minutes because she had gastric bypass surgery.

this, in and of itself, is perhaps not particularly interesting…but
what is interesting is that ms. voight was fired two years ago from her
title role in ariadne auf naxos because the costumer at the royal opera house
in covent garden didn't feel that ms. voight (as a plus size woman) could wear the “little black dress” the title character was to be costumed in as part of this new, contemporary adaptation of the opera. voight’s firing, and the flurry
of media surrounding it, subsequently became known as the “little black
dress incident.”

voight (who eventually lost 135 pounds), says in the interview with
60 minutes that she didn’t have surgery because of the royal opera
house…but because of her health. she was a size 28-30 and was
experiencing weakened joints and back pain…and because even climbing
stairs was difficult. she also notes in the article that there was some
concern over how her voice would fair when she had the surgery. would
she still be able to sing without the weight? what if something went
wrong in surgery? could she lose her extraordinary gift?

i (personally) am having a really hard time sorting through my
emotions on this one. and although i rarely ask my readers to comment
(mostly because of a serious fear that they won’t)…i’m curious as to
what you all think. should she have had gastric bypass? risked her
incredible talent? should opera singers be “allowed” to be overweight
in a society that is forever judging everyone else?

this topic is tense. many of us struggle with weight and personal
appearance issues (myself included). but i’m not an opera star. so i’m
held up to the same, albeit unrealistic, standards as everyone else.
but that doesn’t mean i try to get out of them any chance i can get. i
can’t tell you how many times a day i tell myself it is “okay” that i’m
not beautiful because i’m intelligent. because i’m well read. because
i’m funny. because i have so much more going for me than my looks. is
that why we sometimes let opera singers off the hook, too? as a women,
if you are talented enough, does there come a point when people don’t
expect you to be pretty and thin anymore? or are we always held up to
those standards?

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