Flaws & Fame: Susan Boyle vs. French Elle Magazine

category: News

Published April 20, 2009 @ 04:32AM PT

It would be impossible to talk about body image this week without mentioning Susan Boyle. The 47-year-old Scottish woman became a viral sensation after her surprising performance on Britain's Got Talent. However, due to the physical antithesis of what our society has come to expect from pop stars, the judges smirked and the live audience laughed when she first appeared on stage. But her stunning rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" turned the snickering response into a standing ovation.

Though many have held up Boyle's popularity as proof that we should never judge a book by its cover, it raises an important question. What if Boyle had stepped into the spotlight and, instead of silencing the audience with her incredible voice, she had croaked out her show tune as expected?

In his Huffington Post column, psychotherapist Dennis 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?"

At the same time that Boyle's video was making the rounds via YouTube, a different trio of famous faces challenged our expectations of beauty in a different way. For example, in the "Stars Without Makeup" issue, French Elle created three covers featuring Monica Bellucci, Sophie Marceau and Eva Herzigova without makeup or retouching.

The women are breathtaking and wonderfully real all at once. More than the lack of cover-up and blush, it is the lack of Photoshop that impresses me. With their pale lips and shadows under their eyes, they look very different from the flattened glamour we expect from cover girls, and that is incredibly refreshing. Of course they are still genetically blessed, but we can see they are actual people, not plasticized goddesses that never have a blemish.

Which bit of pop culture gave me more hope this week? French Elle. Rather than enforcing the belief that only the extraordinary are worthy of our admiration, those three covers show that even our stars have flaws. And when we see our icons as real human beings, we chip away at the myth of perfection.

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Comments (39)

Thanks for this post, Julie. I've been itching to write out my thoughts on the issue of "but what if she'd bombed?" (though not on the AR blog, of course) and haven't had time, and I'm glad to see people addressing it. The cruel, insensitive mockery that comes along with these types of shows is why I can't bring myself to watch them.

But it's also not as if anyone has stopped judging Ms. Boyle either. Interviewers can't get through a conversation with her without alluding to the fact that she doesn't "look the part." And how can it not occur to them how that must make her feel? It's heartbreaking to think of all the countless posts and newspieces and video clips all over the Internet, for everyone including her to see, commenting on her clothing, her hair, etc. I can only hope she is thick-skinned and comfortable with, and confident in, herself.

Anyway, on a brighter note, thanks too for the info on the French Elle covers. I hadn't heard of this, and it's fantastic. I'm reminded of the wonderful this-is-me, sans makeup and sans airbrushing, photo shoot Jamie Lee Curtis did--bare midriff and all--several years ago (for what magazine, I don't recall).

Posted by Stephanie Ernst on 04/20/2009 @ 05:23AM PT
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this was really interesting to read, i'm really into fashion and modeling, but i hate wearing makeup. i hadn't heard of the french Elle either, and this was cool to read about. and as much as i love getting all dressed up and pretty, people shouldn't judge on looks no matter what.

Posted by Maddie Murdock on 04/20/2009 @ 08:53AM PT
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I'm a former makeup artist and counter "girl" for Lancome who used to go to work without makeup. It really shocked most of the people I worked with, except for one of my best friends at the time, Kevyn Aucoin (yes, that Kevyn Aucoin). He got it: beauty is about confidence and authenticity. All the rest is for cameras. This was a refreshing post--and I'm so pleased to see women having this conversation!

Posted by renee guillory on 04/24/2009 @ 11:03PM PT
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this was really interesting to read, i'm really into fashion and modeling, but i hate wearing makeup. i hadn't heard of the french Elle either, and this was cool to read about. and as much as i love getting all dressed up and pretty, people shouldn't judge on looks no matter what.

Posted by Maddie Murdock on 04/20/2009 @ 08:54AM PT
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I feel bad for american women

Posted by Etrangere M on 04/21/2009 @ 11:00AM PT
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It is about time that that something like this happens. People don't know how much self image affects the heart and soul of people in a dangerous way. I work and volunteer with at risk youth and the percentage that do self harm and suicide related to issues stemmed from societies behavior is a lot more than you would expect. I also have always believed in the natural beauty of a woman- and love the look.

Posted by Brooke Zielinski on 04/24/2009 @ 07:40AM PT
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Thanks. As a parent of a child with a disability and as a disability advocate, I too wonder why Susan Boyle needed an amazing talent for the world to accept her. When people can accept the beauty of a person regardless of their looks or abilities, but rather for the core of who they are inside, we'll be a much better, happier, more peacful society.

Posted by Beth DeHoff on 04/24/2009 @ 10:32AM PT
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What is stunning to me about the whole Susan Boyle issue is that some of the musical icons of bygone day were not such great lookers either. Ella Fitzgerald was not a beauty queen, yet she reigns supreme in the world of vocals. What the heck do looks have to do with musical talent?

And, instead of Susan, what if it were Steve? Would we have the same look-good standard for him? I can name many more not-so-hot male singers than female. (Mel Torme, Jim Nabors ...)

Our media are creating unrealistic standards of beauty that have absolutely no grounding in reality. What will it take to stop the sanity?

Posted by Debra DeVilbiss on 04/24/2009 @ 10:36AM PT
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Actually there was this sort of homely looking British guy who sang a beautiful aria and was met with much the same response. So it's not just a woman thing. They were shocked that some guy who looked like an English teacher could sing like an angel. That's because we're fooled by the so-called "music" industry where you have to be a hottie, and they can always fix your crappy intonation with pro-tools. People worry more about musicians waist-lines than about their songs, their tone, their melodies, Sad really. I bet we're missing out on a lot of quality music because of the "beauty standard."

Posted by Meredith Donahue on 04/24/2009 @ 06:56PM PT
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Imagine what music would be today if Roy Orbison had been judged by his looks. We are so shallow. As far as I'm concerned Susan Boyle IS beautiful. I love her personality and she comes across with confidence and grace. If she had not sung well, it would have reinforced the mistaken notion that only one type of person can create beauty.

Posted by Romy Carver on 04/27/2009 @ 10:30AM PT
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I mean IN-sanity!

Posted by Debra DeVilbiss on 04/24/2009 @ 10:38AM PT
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Watching the time between her entrance and her second note was excruciating. There was a palpable complicity and while I celebrated her triumph, I felt literally soiled at having been a part of the bullying crowd, even if it was just by watching them. As for French Elle, I only wish this weren't considered revolutionary. I have three daughters, would that we could move to Eurpoe.

Posted by Amanda Magee on 04/24/2009 @ 03:07PM PT
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As a multicultural woman, I don't find the euroamerican ideal of good looks beautiful, anyway, and I find very few celebrities of any persuasion good looking. Not everyone on this earth likes the same thing, thank God! Ms. Boyle looks friendly, fun, and unaffected -- she looks like a person I'd be comfortable talking with or having for a friend, something I couldn't say of most celebrities. She might even be an interesting person, which I certainly can't say of any celebrity I've listened to. Let's get off the "everybody has to like the same thing" bandwagon and learn to think for ourselves! Now THAT would truly be revolutionary.

Posted by Jamaka Petzak on 04/24/2009 @ 03:13PM PT
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When I was growing up my mom hardly ever wore makeup, besides a little lipstick. I grew up pretty much the same and only wear make up for work and then it's very minimal. Pesonally I think women most of the time look pretty without makeup. This could be because of the way I was raised but I don't think so, I think when you can see someone as nature intended it's always more breath taking then it is when it's man made.

Posted by april mosen on 04/24/2009 @ 05:02PM PT
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THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!! I have been waiting for someone else out there to say this, it's been driving me nuts all week the idea that someone it's ok to be cruel to someone and judge them unless they have some amazing talent. The Boyle video completely depressed me and what depressed me even more was that my friends couldn't understand why I found the whole thing so offensive. So I'm thrilled to finally find my fellow travelers on this one.

Posted by Timi Gerson on 04/24/2009 @ 06:08PM PT
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Surprise, surprise - the Frence Elle magazine also has an article about Susan Boyle, showing her after a makeover:
http://www.elle.fr/elle/people/la-vie-des-people/news/photo-nouveau-look-pour-susan-boyle/(gid)/879045

Posted by Selina Postgate on 04/25/2009 @ 02:36AM PT
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Wonderful post Julie... thank you for sharing your thoughts.. Especially coming from a woman as beautiful as you it is really refreshing to know that inner beauty is even more stunning than the superficial one :))

Posted by Pamela Pendergraft on 04/25/2009 @ 03:00AM PT
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The article accompanying Elle's picture of Susan Boyle's new look (my translation, followed by the French original):

"The transformation is under way. Days after becoming a world star on YouTube, Susan Boyle has swapped her unfashionable dresses for more modern, though still classic, outfits. The 47-year-old Scot has also pepped up her hairstyle, exchanging greying locks for a flamboyant brown. However even though this woman with the bewitching voice is smartening herself up, she refuses an extreme makeover: "Why should I change?" she exclaimed to one journalist."

"Le processus de transformation est enclenché. Quelques jours après être devenue une star mondiale sur Youtube, Susan Boyle a troqué ses robes ringardes contre des pièces classiques, mais plus modernes. Côté coiffure, l'écossaise de 47 ans s'est donnée un coup de peps en abandonnant sa couleur grisonnante pour un châtain flamboyant. Si cette femme à la voix ensorcelante se fait plus coquette, elle refuse toutefois les propositions de relooking extrême : « Pourquoi est-ce que je changerais » a-t-elle lancé à un journaliste."

Posted by Selina Postgate on 04/25/2009 @ 03:28AM PT
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AMEN. Why SHOULD she change? She was just fine the way she was. I wish everyone would leave her alone and let her sing!

Why don't they take some celebrity and peel off the 500 lbs. of makeup and remove the phony lashes and the hair dye and all that, lose the botox, and let her transform into something real?

And who decides what's "fashionable?" The fashion designers and retailers who would go out of business if we didn't follow them around like sheep, trying to keep up with the latest thing. It's embarrassing.

Posted by Romy Carver on 04/27/2009 @ 10:39AM PT
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What I found shocking about Boyle's performance was the fact that this incredible voice had been around for forty-seven years and had never been heard in public before. I'd like to believe I'm not the only one.

Posted by Deborah Cottrell on 04/25/2009 @ 06:21AM PT
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I LOVE Susan Boyle!!! Hahaha as of today, she had about 44 MILLION views on her you-tube video!

Posted by Glen Edwards on 04/25/2009 @ 06:46AM PT
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I don't watch any of those 'Idol' shows; I think Simon is a bullying-butt and I can't stand to watch him degrade people the way he does. When I saw the 'bit' on the news about Susan Boyle, I cried. Honestly, I don't know if I cried more because her voice was so beautiful, or because I was so happy for this - what did they call her? - unassuming? - woman, and glad Simon had to eat crow. I have felt for years that we are a very judgmental society (as I too have been guilty). Up until my early thirties, I worried about my clothes, my hair, my weight, everything! Then I became best friends with a recovering bullimic and anorexic. She taught me a lot about a lot! I used to think I couldn't go out my front door without makeup, and I would starve myself all week to fit into a dress on Friday night. I am now 48, weigh 20+ pounds more than I should, and I have been married to a wonderful man for almost 4 years who tells me that I am beautiful, even when I know I look 'scary'. On a normal day, IF I leave my house (I am retired), I wear lipstick or lipgloss. Guess what? I don't care who finds me attractive or not. I know - and feel - that I am thoroughly imperfect yet beautiful in God's eyes - and in mine and my husband's, which is just icing on the cake.

Posted by Monica Morton on 04/25/2009 @ 07:31AM PT
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what would have happened if the audience was blind..how would they have reacted when they were told she was on stage? We as human beings must strive to be blind to what popular culture says we must accept as acceptable behaviour. You want peace in this world? Then start accepting people for who they are and not what society expects them to be..

Posted by Paul Bellefeuille on 04/25/2009 @ 07:32AM PT
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I'm uncomfortable with the Susan Boyle phenomenon. Happy for her, uncomfortable for the rest of us. Many people have fantastic singing voices. Any person who grew up around certain churches will have experienced many "unattractive" women with beautiful singing voices. This is not news.

The eruption over Susan Boyle undermines the message it supposedly advances. Why should we be shocked or surprised that an "unattractive" person has talents? And, while we should not treat people like dirt because they don't look like fashion models, what is wrong with admitting that some people are more aesthetically beautiful than others? Why is physical beauty not worth appreciating just as much as a beautiful voice?

Susan can take no more credit for her vocal apparatus than the fashion models can for their symmetrical features or thick hair.

Posted by Barbara Saunders on 04/25/2009 @ 08:48AM PT
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"Susan can take no more credit for her vocal apparatus than the fashion models can for their symmetrical features or thick hair."

Not entirely true, Barbara. To be such a good singer takes years of training, which perhaps she had (co-credit for honing her talents). As for having a voice at all, much less a really good one, that's pure genetics, as are her looks. But if you see my comment below, you'll see that looks and talent are, too often, mutually exclusive.

Posted by William Feagin on 04/25/2009 @ 10:36AM PT
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Hi hun :))

I think that people aren't choked because she has talents being unattractive.. It is the fact that the media has always sold the idea that only attractive people are superstars.

And while seeing her and knowing how they have used other people to add sarcasm and sadism to the show while attacking that unattractive person, now they can find someone that supassed everything related to "image" with the talent of her voice and the immense love that she showered us with.

Both things united ended the old paradygm and started a new one :)

Posted by Pamela Pendergraft on 04/25/2009 @ 05:57PM PT
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It's really odd, I think, how the music industry now insists that every star be a hottie as well as have talent. I'm reminded of a comment in the movie "Almost Famous" that Cameron Crowe gave Philip Seymour Hoffman's character (Lester Bangs, probably pretty close to the real guy) to say about beautiful people: "They don't last, their music's got no spine." Most of our so-called "hotties" that are in the charts now barely write their own songs...Britney Spears, anyone? I doubt like hell she's ever put pen to paper to compose lyrics or music.

Most of our best musicians and singers aren't particularly good-looking to start with. People love the songs of Bob Dylan, but he's no magazine model and never has been one; the late Cass Elliott (of The Mamas and the Papas), was 300 lbs., but the guys *loved* her and she sang her ass off. Susan Boyle may not be good-looking, either, but it's clear she's got a beautiful, soaring voice. The music industry, however, wants to expose only the voices and the instrumental talents and submerge them into beautiful faces and bodies whose own musical ability might be a bit (or a lot) lacking (cf. the Milli Vanilli scandal, although I'll admit, after seeing their story on VH-1's "Behind the Music," I really felt bad for them; two guys who just wanted to be successful and got chewed up and spit out by the star-maker machine thanks to a colluding producer; there's also the case of Martha Wash and the C&C Music Factory).

By the same token, you usually can't be good-looking and be taken seriously at the same time in the music industry, unless you're doing something other than pop/rock/R&B, and it's a double whammy if you're female. Classical and opera seem to be the most forgiving in this regard--I've seen any number of lovely young women who happen to be virtuoso players on violin, cello, piano or in operatic singing (Callen Esperian comes to mind). But what if the girls who make up the Pussycat Dolls were multiinstrumental geniuses playing really challenging progressive rock? It makes you wonder.

Posted by William Feagin on 04/25/2009 @ 10:33AM PT
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Susan can not take credit for her vocal apparatus, but what comes from Susan is not just an amazing voice. What comes from Susan is her heart, developed from her life, that life which is now 48, that life which has struggled to be seen for who she knows she is (as we all do), has lived in this flat, has had these experiences and disappointments, has had these friends and on.. It is her heart that comes out when she opens her mouth and expresses herself. That is what blew everyone away! And now me because somehow she is able to open a valve and let that flow! That is the gift that she has. And about the French Elle cover, it is the same thing, without the cover of her makeup we can see this woman's heart, and we find that refreshing! The Elle cover And Susan Boyle is what real beauty is about. It is about Heart, and what is pretty cool is that we are all talking about it because weather we can define it or not we recognize it.

Posted by Barbara Jansen on 04/25/2009 @ 10:39AM PT
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How do we know that "What comes from Susan is her heart, etc.?" Do conventionally beautiful people not have heart, disappointments, etc.? For that matter, in addition to the Susan Boyles, ignored because they aren't beautiful, aren't there also the women who feel the need to hide their (conventional) good looks to have their intelligence appreciated?

What is bothering me in this topic are some prejudices that run just as deep as the unquestioning elevation of good looks:

"Ugly people are 'deeper' than those superficial good-looking people."
"Good-looking people who are humble and downplay their looks 'have more heart' than those who dare to strut their stuff."
Physical beauty isn't "real" because "real" beauty is "inside."
It seems to me to smack both of envy (of the model types) and of condescension (directed at Susan.)
Heck - I devoted 15 years of my life to seeing Jerry Garcia over and over again. I am not shocked - in a good way or a bad way - that a frumpy, dumpy person can make beautiful music.

Posted by Barbara Saunders on 04/25/2009 @ 09:40PM PT
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I was blessed with a good singing voice and a dumpy body. I sang at church, weddings, funerals, had a band, etc. I wanted so to go pro but knew if I wasn't a skinny, pretty thing, it wouldn't fly. People would hear me and say, you need to record, they still do and now I am 53 years old. I can't because that stereotype is still out there. Even with all of that I was shocked at the way the audience acted before Susna Boyle opened her mouth. Do they act like that in the States? After Paul you would think the Brits would know better.

Posted by Angel Rae Duryea on 04/25/2009 @ 10:46AM PT
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The Magazine that Jamie Leigh Curtis Posed sans makeup and clothing was a recent AARP Magazine. She stated after the fiasco of lipo in the eighties, she got real with herself and her life and decided to look like herself.

Posted by Rosalind Williams on 04/25/2009 @ 11:37AM PT
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As an artist who paints portraits, I am very much at odds with what is commonly promoted as "beauty" in this society. I am always looking at faces of people around me. Occasionally I spot a really uncommon, compelling face that I refer to as a "fantastic." Such a face, while quite striking, may have nothing to do with being a perfect oval or having "regular" features. It may have lines, gray hair and irregular features. It may lack the plumped lips, creamy skin, cascading mane of shining hair, or other features, commonly associated by advertisers with any notion of "beauty." Still, it can have a kind of "life" or liveliness (or what Barbara refers to above as "heart") that leads me to want to know more about the person who wears it.

Faces fascinate me. They arouse my curiosity, making me wonder what feelings, thoughts, philosophies underlie them. Studying them, I begin to want recreate them on canvas. What would I discover were I to paint the face of a particular person? What kind of character, emotions or spirit would emerge from the canvas as I work? That's the question that inspires me to keep rendering people's likenesses in pencil, ink or paint.

The amazing and sad thing for me is knowing that so many people in the world never really SEE themselves as they are. Having been captivated by the superficial notions of beauty broadcast by the media, they never realize or experience their own, unique beauty. I see that as a tragedy and a loss for us all.

Posted by Mary Siegfried on 04/25/2009 @ 12:46PM PT
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I have the complete opposite reaction as the author. I DO see the point that Boyle would've been ridiculed even worse if she had a bad voice.

BUT. I don't see how women who clearly meet the definition of 'stunningly gorgeous' appearing w/o makeup on the cover of French Elle is a 'real' victory for beauty, women, or anyone. On the other hand, I really admire Susan Boyle for being able to sing her song so well when faced with ridicule. How many people, stepping on a stage for a nationally broadcast show and hearing people laugh and snicker at her, would have been able to hold it together well enough to kill that song?

I'd rather take away the idea to hold true to myself and my abilities, even when others don't seem ready to appreciate them, than the idea that maybe I too can look pretty without makeup or that, thank the heavens, even gorgeous people have some flaws.

Posted by dawn stanley on 04/25/2009 @ 02:04PM PT
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I thought it was WAY cool that when her snickering dumbass critics first tried to rush in with all the makeover rhetoric, that she "shunned" them back by declining, saying that she doesn't need to change a thing. Indeed. Looks like the fools who laughed at her are THE ones that need an attitude makeover, or it seems so to me.

Posted by Lisa Holt on 04/25/2009 @ 05:47PM PT
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Along this same thread, recently I read where Carrie Underwood was apparently made to lose the "extra weight" when she became a superstar. Uh, I've watched her since her first Idol audition - what "extra weight"? This is just a symptom of the huge beauty image problem we have here in America. I don't think Susan Boyle should change A THING.

Posted by Mary K. on 04/27/2009 @ 01:33PM PT
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I am a 51 year old female, gone through menopause, has a few extra pounds,rarely wears make up and yes I do dye my hair and refuse to wear reading glasses even though I need them because I am still vain, but most people are surprised to find out that I am 51. I have been genetically blessed with great wrinkle free skin and yeah most people think I am my 40s or even my 30s. I am flattered but I wish more people would get to know the real me first before making judgements. I am wondering how their opinion of me changes when they find out how old I really am. Sure I could lie about my age but why should I have to? Still in all it is human nature to judge people by their appearance. Studies have shown that more attractive people are more likely to get the job, promotion, raise and attention. It is the way if the world. I am not saying it it right, it is just a fact.So until everyone stops doing it, it will continue to happen. And women are their own worst enemies. Women are so cruel to each other and so judgemental about other women's looks, it starts in high school and just keeps on going. So maybe there should be classes in high school on how not to judge others by looks. It has to start somewhere.

Posted by Pat Ward on 04/27/2009 @ 02:41PM PT
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to respond to Pat in the comment above, i started being aware of agism in my late teens as i was prejudiced about age probably more than anything else. there was nothing to combat it, it was raging rampant. thirty four years later it is still rampant, and i see it from the other side. once we become a certain age we become invisible to half of the population (especially if we are women). as an artist i am somewhat lucky because young artists are a group that in general seem to value and enjoy the experience of older people. it is such a strange thing to me as if there were a magic line that you cross over and you are so much less than you were just before you crossed it. it is a cultural thing, as many countries value age. It is such a shame because age and youth have so much to offer each other. i feel like i am missing some of the richest part of the population.

one thing i can say about Susan Boyl is that i would love her voice weather she fit the singer stereotype or not, yet i wonder would i have heard of her earlier? or would i have never heard of her at all?

Posted by Barbara Jansen on 04/27/2009 @ 11:44PM PT
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I really wish that women who don't take care of their health would stop promoting the idea that looking good is an "impossible standard". Every healthy human being looks good without makeup or photoshop. Only the unhealthy look ugly to those who see real beauty. If you are perceived as ugly, revolting, shockingly unappealing, or just plain frightful, perhaps you should eat a balanced diet, exercise in the sun, bathe regularly, or see a psychological councilor. I firmly believe that inner beauty is reflected by outward appearance.

Posted by Michael E. Russell on 04/28/2009 @ 11:41PM PT
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I find it intriguing that some ephemoral point was trying to be made by comparing three women, known for their beauty, posing au naturel, to a 47-year old phenom, who, if one looked through a different 'eye', would have seen the beauty she too possesses..and, I might add, without the aid over the years, of the best beauty and skin experts available to the other women.

Their 'beauty' was a luck of the draw, being blessed with the correct amount of estrogen needed to create the symmetry of the facial construct, etc.

Susan Boyle has been taught some very difficult 'life lessons' and remains courageous, funny, and humble. How many of you reading these comments, would have the courage to do what she did?

As a musician, I know this: you are totally vulnerable when you stand up and offer your gift to people. There are few wounds more painful than rejection of your offering. The "beautiful ladies" may make their movies and if not well-received, retreat to some luxurious, out-of-the-way place to recover their equilibrium.

Frankly, Elle was comparing apples to oranges. It has been said "Those who can, do...those who cannot..become critics." It is certainly true in this case.

Why cannot we simply be happy for someone who finally, more than half-way through her life, has good things coming her way instead of trying to tear her down or or apart?

It is sad to see the many who, for the insurrmountable insecurities of their own psyche, cannot allow anyone else the joy of enjoying their newly experienced blessings.

I, for one, pray that Susan's life, will here after, be the fairy tale and that God will allow His smile to rest upon her and protect her from sycophants and leeches and that her gifts will be further developed, polished and brought forward, for those of us who admire her, to enjoy!

Voila Tout!

Posted by Sharon Stromley on 09/03/2009 @ 12:23PM PT
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Julie is a web editor and freelance writer with a master's degree in journalism. A recovering bulimic and anorexic, she is especially interested in the relationship between body image, pop culture and the media.