Making over Susan Boyle

Ann Althouse is looking at the “Susan Boyle needs a make-over” crowd, and writes:

The idea of keeping her in her original state is sentimental and selfish. Is she supposed to bolster your self esteem? One of her attributes is that she’s never been kissed. (She’s 47.) Should she retain her virginity along with her bushy eyebrows so that TV viewers can feel warm and squishy?

Seeing the world talk about Boyle’s virginity makes me uneasy, because pop-culture seems incapable of discussing virginity maturely, thoughtfully or even respectfully; I kind of wish Boyle hadn’t brought it up, herself. I imagine her naivete allowed it, and who knows – perhaps it will spawn a long-overdue look at the value and meaning of virginity (something I’ve tried to talk about a few times, but still haven’t explored fully).

But as to the bushy eyebrows, I think Althouse is correct. Why shouldn’t Boyle be a little more stylish, if that’s what she wants? The woman has lived her whole life in the little house, in the little town, serving her parents – and all of that is lovely – but if she’d like to try a new hairstyle and find more flattering clothing, why is this a bad thing? Will people accuse her of “selling out” if she plucks her eyebrows and colors her hair? How does her going out in public looking like she’s just done the dishes and made the beds make her more admirable than if she were groomed a bit?

I agree with Stacy London when she says: “Style is only possible from a place of self-acceptance.” I have found this to be true, myself. When I hated everything about my looks, I was incapable of anything more than jeans and sweats. Now, I’m not thrilled with my looks or my weight, but I’m more accepting of them, and that has made a huge difference. While I still won’t wear one of those ghastly loud prints they insist on selling to chubby women, I’m more amenable to wearing a belted jacket, or indulging my love of scarves and shawls, even if they don’t look as well on me as I’d like. Self-acceptance does allow one to say “aw, screw it if others don’t like this, I do!”

Boyle has expressed dissatisfaction with her how she looked on tv, so she’s not at the “screw ’em” stage just yet. Let her explore a bit! Of course, if she got botoxed unto monster-hood like some women, and got a boob job and went all hog-wild with self-indulgence, I can see where people might roll their eyes, but for goodness sake, let the lady have a hairdo!

Just not one of these. One imagines Boyle getting either them and thinking, “what fresh hell is this?”

Boyle may – as she adapts to a very different life than she is used to – find a look that doesn’t please anyone but herself. She likes showtunes, so maybe then people will hear her singing this: