"Faith and begorrah, welcome to the fatty o'sphere!"

This Time I'll Spare You The "Not-So-Fat-Lady Sings" Joke

June 12th, 2008

We wrote about Deborah Voight all the way back in 2006. You might remember her as the opera singer who was fired for being too fat, and who had gastric bypass surgery. She was recently rehired to sing the same role that she was fired for, back in the day. The New York Times has an overview:

At the time, the director, Christof Loy, proclaimed her too heavy to wear a sleek black cocktail dress that he deemed integral to his concept. The dress has since become a symbol of skewed priorities among opera directors who value a singer’s appearance over vocal artistry.

Voight made a video called “Return of the Little Black Dress” where she spoofs the incident… and makes reference to her previous weight with jokes like the dress saying: “I thought our being together was… a bit of a stretch” and then apologizing and saying “I was wrong. Size doesn’t matter.” Of course even the NYT points out, if size doesn’t matter, why was she fired at size 30 and then rehired at size 14?

This all seems very “all’s well that end’s well!” and “getting skinny is the best revenge.” But of course she should never have been fired in the first place, and I guess in her place I’d be a little more angry, a little less willing to take the blame upon myself for being treated unfairly. And yet…

Still, for Ms. Voigt there have been upsides to this humiliating episode in her life. For one, she looks and feels terrific. After her surgery, by monitoring her diet and exercise closely, this 5-foot-6 soprano reduced her dress size from 30 (at her heaviest) to 14, with resulting benefits to her confidence and health. In recent seasons she has been winning acclaim for portraying characters meant to look alluring, like Puccini’s Tosca and, in a career milestone, Strauss’s Salome, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2006.

And while she hopes that the little-black-dress incident will not be the defining moment of her career, she said, “It’s allowing me the chance to talk about the subject of obesity, especially childhood obesity. It’s become so much more prevalent in society today, it really frightens me,” she added. “I had a weight problem, and will have one for the rest of my life. It’s a constant battle. Gastric bypass is not a cure, it’s a tool.”

So what do you think of the video and the article? Are you as ambivalent about it as I am?

Thanks to Eleanor for the link!

Posted by mo pie

Filed under: Art, Celebrities, International, Music, Theater, Video, WLS

You might also like

  1. Not The Butt Of A Joke
  2. The Fat Lady Detective
  3. Not So Full Or Fabulous

22 Responses to This Time I'll Spare You The "Not-So-Fat-Lady Sings" Joke

  1. vesta44, on June 12th, 2008 at 3:00 pm Said:

    She’s what, not quite 2 years out from her WLS? I’ll believe that this was best for her when she’s 10 or 15 years out from it and has no problems with malnutrition or any of the other side effects of WLS. I feel sorry that she had to cave to the omnipresent pressure to be thin in order to be thought worthy of having an operatic career, since all WLS is still experimental. I don’t know what her eating habits/exercising were pre-WLS, but could her health have been improved by tweaking what she ate and getting a moderate amount of exercise? Would she have felt better then? Doesn’t really matter, does it, since that probably wouldn’t have led to her getting thin, and thin is just the be-all and end-all goal for women, isn’t it? That’s the measure of whether or not we deserve a career, nice clothes, a spouse/SO, and a loving family. It’s times like these that I really, really hate a society that thinks it has the right to tell people how they should look.

  2. DivaJean, on June 12th, 2008 at 3:09 pm Said:

    I’m with you vesta44- where are all the people who had weight loss surgery in the earlier years of it? Back in 1991, I had a friend whose mom and aunt both had weight loss surgery. They should be in their early 60’s now, but they are both dead.

    That whole “at least you did something about the weight and were healthy” means nothing if the patient dies 20 some odd years below life expectancy.

  3. Epiphany Alone, on June 12th, 2008 at 3:11 pm Said:

    This line made me particularly sad:

    Recently she took a vacation in the Dominican Republic and came back six pounds heavier. “I got on the scale, said, ‘O.K., enough of that.’ ” She was down at her gym at 7 the next morning.

    Because you know how this is going to turn out.

  4. whyme63, on June 12th, 2008 at 3:17 pm Said:

    If it’s all about health, why aren’t we reading her cholesterol and blood sugar numbers, instead of her dress size?

  5. Becky, on June 12th, 2008 at 3:39 pm Said:

    I don’t like it. I mean, people have to do what they have to do, and if the only way for her to be able to do what she loves and is trained for is to lose weight – well, I’m not going to condemn her for it. But I think her being in that situation is something to mourn, not something to celebrate.

    And getting thin isn’t the best revenge. Getting thin, especially by such a dangerous method, is letting them win. The best revenge would have been to get a better part with a different opera house and get rave reviews and bring in lots of money and make the first place regret hiring her. But I guess things don’t always work that way in real life =(

  6. Becky, on June 12th, 2008 at 3:40 pm Said:

    Make the first place regret firing her I mean.

  7. Rachel, on June 12th, 2008 at 3:48 pm Said:

    Good point, Whyme. It’s not about health and it never was. It’s all about the appearance of good health.

    Personally, I thought her video spoof was clever and done in good taste, considering the mentalities of those she mocked. I find myself rather liking her sass…

    But I am also kind of turned off by the last statement she made, about WLS being a tool and not a cure. I understand WLS is very difficult and carries great risk, and I understand she made this comment because so many people think it to be just an “easy way out.” Still, if you still struggle with weight after having most of your digestive tract rerouted and amputated so that you no longer digest the bulk of nutrients from the foods you eat… then, perhaps your body is trying to tell you something.

  8. Tiana, on June 12th, 2008 at 5:57 pm Said:

    It scares me that even people who have already realized that formerly fat is not the same as naturally thin are still promoting weight loss. I mean, how does that make any sense? It’s basically like saying, “You’ll have to struggle with this and half-starve yourself for the rest of your life, it will be absolutely awful but I suggest that you do it anyway!”

  9. Tangerine, on June 13th, 2008 at 9:05 am Said:

    “Personally, I thought her video spoof was clever and done in good taste, considering the mentalities of those she mocked. I find myself rather liking her sass…”

    Ditto. She seems like a spunky chick, mocking those who said she couldn’t take on a LBD role.

    I do feel bad she felt the need to take such a drastic step as surgery. I think about the pressures on normal people to lose weight, to conform, and how it must magnify a hundred times for those in the spotlight, and I can sort of understand. It makes me sad.

  10. Swellanor, on June 13th, 2008 at 9:15 am Said:

    squee! Thanks for following my tip!

    I love that Deborah Voigt seems to be resisting the “Weight-loss Success Story” narrative that the media want to enforce. I love her diva attitude in the video.

    But I had the same reaction as DivaJean and Vesta44- What might happen in the years after WLS? Opera singing is physically demanding, even if you’re not jet-setting the way a big star like Voigt. There used to be an idea that singers had to be robust to support their voices. That may be outdated- there are some great thinner singers- but I wonder how long a singer could keep going on a restricted diet?

  11. kate217, on June 13th, 2008 at 11:04 am Said:

    I love the video. I’m not to keen on her “childhood obesity” views.

  12. Liza, on June 13th, 2008 at 3:38 pm Said:

    Speaking of childhood obesity, anyone see this week’s Time Magazine?

    The cover headline it “Our Super-Sized Kids”

    Why? Because it’s a Special Health Issue! So let’s talk about teh fattyz! And show a kid eating ice cream! zomg!

    http://www.time.com/time/magazine

  13. Liza, on June 13th, 2008 at 3:38 pm Said:

    and by “it” I mean “is”

  14. Liza, on June 13th, 2008 at 3:39 pm Said:

    not to spam, but i forgot to mention the subhead mentions a “cure” for the “obesity epidemic”

    gag-er-oo!

  15. Cindy, on June 13th, 2008 at 6:08 pm Said:

    She is sassy, for sure.

  16. Adam G., on June 14th, 2008 at 5:58 pm Said:

    My mother went to school with Debbie Voight at Cal State Fullerton in the 1980s. Mom and Debbie were good friends, and she was a frequent visitor to our house. She’s always had that spunky sense of humor and that magnificent voice.

    She and my mom both struggled with weight all their lives, and I remember them both hating their bodies. Personally, I always thought they were both beautiful. I’m very sorry to hear that Debbie had WLS and that she had to do this to get her job back. That just enrages me.

  17. Sarah, on June 16th, 2008 at 10:30 am Said:

    I love Debbie Voigt, she’s super sassy and wicked talented. I thought the video was a stitch and a nice little coda to the whole unfortunate incident. I’ve been following her for many years, and I’ll say that her voice is still lovely, but just not the same post-surgery. The opera world, sadly, is getting more and more sizist, and clearly she’d been struggling and yo-yoing dramatically for years. While I don’t think the surgery was a good idea, I hope that it can be a catylist for her to keep doing everything ELSE that will help her maintain a long and healthy life and career.

  18. ginger, on June 16th, 2008 at 12:35 pm Said:

    “The best revenge would have been to get a better part with a different opera house and get rave reviews and bring in lots of money and make the first place regret firing her. But I guess things don’t always work that way in real life.”

    Practically speaking, even a singer at Voigt’s level can’t get away with boycotting Covent Garden because of a previous snub – she would be perceived as unprofessional, unfair though that is, and that would in turn make it more difficult for her with casting directors around the world.

    It’s telling that she had to get Covent Garden’s buy-in just to run the YouTube video.

  19. kmom, on June 17th, 2008 at 4:58 am Said:

    Remember she also had an incident recently (at the Met, I think?) where she had to leave the stage in the middle of a performance and was too sick to go on. Someone had to step in for her in the middle of the performance.

    Now of course, she really might have had some kind of real bug. People with WLS get bugs too, and that might be all this was.

    But one has to wonder if perhaps she had a sudden GI-nasty attack during a performance, or starting “dumping” or having other WLS-related problems.

    I’ve heard the stories of the vomiting and diarrhea and dumping and all, and wondered all along how that would work with a stage career. Esp in the years to come as she starts to develop more malnutrition issues.

    Perhaps this truly was only a bug but I have to wonder how this will affect her career in the long-term. It’s been a boost in the short-term, but will it be such a boost in a few years when the malnutrition starts taking a toll?

    So sad to see the formerly size-friendly field of opera go the way of the rest of the world. And so sad to see this sassy, spunky woman bow down to this kind of sizist crap.

  20. CindyS, on June 20th, 2008 at 9:42 pm Said:

    I am a professional opera singer, too, and when this incident happened, it enraged me. I wrote an article about it for Classical Singer Magazine called “It Ain’t Over ’til the Black Dress Sings”, protesting the fact that Deborah Voigt, the premiere interpreter of Ariadne singing today, was somehow unsuitable because the director didn’t like how she would look in the freaking COSTUME; as well as the effect this sort of thinking has on the opera world.

    Several years later, I have chosen to lose weight myself. I’m interested to see how this might affect my own career. (At least one general director told my agent he didn’t WANT me to lose weight, but that’s just because he envisioned a fat person in the role he was considering me for).

    I think it’s sad that the world can’t accept people of all sizes and shapes as beautiful, sexy, and worthy of love.

  21. Haystacks, on June 20th, 2008 at 11:30 pm Said:

    Here is a woman who was very talented, then discriminated against, and then had major surgery to get her job back. Part of me is angry at her for caving, and feels vaguely betrayed. Another feels that she was coerced- I mean her livelihood was threatened, which is hardly fair. Another sympathies. But she was an opera singer. She sang beautifully, why isn’t the article about how wrong that was.

  22. singerj, on June 30th, 2008 at 10:48 am Said:

    This whole situation is very sad, to me. Voigt hacked up her internal organs so that misogynistic/size-obsessed opera directors could be placated. Why misogynistic? While men do deal with criticism in the opera world while fat, they don’t deal with half as much ridiculousness as women do. At least, such has been my experience and the experience of those around me. Of course Voigt’s voice would be affected! My voice would be affected if all of a sudden more was riding on my BMI than my larynx! I hope that Voigt finds happiness and a good career, no matter what. I wish her the greatest happiness and the greatest success: fat, thin, or anywhere in between. Her voice is a gem in this world and she doesn’t deserve such critiques!!!

Subscribe to the comments for this post (RSS)

« Celebrity Fatwatch: Eyeroll Edition
More Wacky Celebrity Diets »

RSS button Entries RSS

RSS button Comments RSS

Email us

Look around
  • What's the Big Fat Deal?
  • Introduce yourself
  • How do I love myself? And the follow up.
  • Our Facebook group
  • BFD greatest hits
  • 10 Ways to be a Body Positivity Advocate
  • Our pet fish
  • Press and media
We are...
Image of Mo Pie Image of Weetabix Image of Jenfu
Find it
Meta
+ Click to display
  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  •  
  • Google Reader or Homepage
  • del.icio.us 43 Folders
  • Add to My Yahoo!
  • Subscribe with Bloglines
  • Subscribe in NewsGator Online
  • Furl 43 Folders
  • Add to Technorati Favorites!
  • Add to netvibes
  • Health Blogs - Blog Top Sites
  • Pop Culture Blogs -  Blog Catalog Blog Directory
  • Blogging Fusion Blog Directory
  • I fight fat-hate!
  • B-List Blogger
  • Bloggapedia, Blog Directory - Find It!
  • As Seen on Delightfulblogs.com
  • Blogarama - The Blog Directory
  • Top HealthCare Sites
  • + Click to hide
Your comments
  • Babs: So sorry to hear that you are moving to Facebook. I’m one of those “dinosaurs” who refused to...
  • Trish: I’m a heavier girl, and throughout my pregnancy so far I’ve not thought too much about looking...
  • Rhonwyyn: Hi Mali, So sorry you’re feeling this way. I was never very skinny, but I learned to hate my body as...
  • Jody: I just got this cute Disney Nerds bag at Disneyland this January. It was only $20 and the strap is super long....
  • Courtney: I found one at H&M. Can’t wear a damn thing from that store except their bags, and it was under...
Recent entries
  • New BFD Page on Facebook
  • Recommend A Crossbody Bag
  • It Happened To Me: I Read xoJane.com
  • Actor Gains 50 Pounds, Becomes "Much Funnier"?
  • Nordstrom Rack Fall Outfit Extravaganza
  • Say Yes To The Dress: Big Bliss
Notes from the Fatosphere
Most Popular Categories
  • Advertising Advocacy America Ferrera American Idol Art Ask BFD Beth Ditto BFD Classic BFDudes Biggest Loser BlogHer08 Books Britney Spears Carnie Wilson Celebrities Cold Hard Cash Comics Courtney Love Dance Your Ass Off Diet Talk Diet Talk Warning Drop Dead Diva Eating Disorders Exercise Fashion Fatism Fat Positive Fat Suits Feel Good Friday Feminism Food Gabby Sidibe Glee Gossip Guest Post Gwyneth Paltrow Hairspray Health Huge Humor International Jenfu Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Hudson Jennifer Love Hewitt Jessica Simpson Kate Winslet Keira Knightley Kelly Clarkson Kids Kirstie Alley Links Magazines Media Meta Mike & Molly Mo'Nique Mommyblog More To Love Movies Music Nikki Blonsky NSFW Old Navy Old Timey Oprah Personal Photoshop Politics Project Runway Queen Latifah Question Race & Ethnicity Renee Zelwegger Review Ricki Lake Ricky Gervais Science Sex & Romance Star Jones Theater The Office Tidbit TV Tyra Banks Uncategorized Video Weetabix Weight Loss WLS Work

Twitter
[aktt_tweets count="5"]
Most Comments
  • Nordstrom Rack Fall Outfit Extravaganza (232)
  • How Do Strangers Treat You? (134)
  • "The Beautiful People Are The Skinny People" (103)
  • "You Do Not See Fat People In Concentration Camps" (100)
  • Are You Insecure About Your Height? (97)
  • Big Fat Ad (91)
Archives
Powered by WordPress & WPDesigner :: Design by Pattycake Designs & modified by Make My Blog Pretty :: Logo by Evan Carothers