What If Susan Boyle Couldn’t Sing?

Like so many of us, I’ve been watching (and re-re-watching) Susan Boyle’s moving, ass-kicking, stereotype-defying performance of "I Dreamed a Dream" since it exploded across the net a couple days ago. And like so many of us, I’m genuinely moved to tears every time, and so proud of this woman for having the confidence to overcome the odds (read: judgement) stacked against her.

But something still didn’t feel quite right. Finally, I came across a piece by Dennis Palumbo on Huffington Post, titled "What If Susan Boyle Couldn’t Sing?", that absolutely nails down what’s been bugging me. Palumbo writes:

The unspoken message of this whole episode is that, since Susan Boyle has a wonderful talent, we were wrong to judge her based on her looks and demeanor. Meaning what? That if she couldn’t sing so well, we were correct to judge her on that basis? That demeaning someone whose looks don’t match our impossible, media-reinforced standards of beauty is perfectly okay, unless some mitigating circumstance makes us re-think our opinion?

Please read the whole piece. It’s insightful, and humbling, and a good reminder that "not judging a book by its cover" isn’t just about talent: it’s about respect for the whole person, secret rockstar or not.

Disclaimer: This post was written by a Feministing Community user and does not necessarily reflect the views of any Feministing columnist, editor, or executive director.

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