Hehe. I was thinking about that as I searched for a picture that really captures her, one that really makes you go 'Waaagghh!'
I have mixed feelings about B�lent. On one hand, (the swan argument) good for her being true to herself. That was pretty brave getting a sex change in Turkey in the early 80s, especially given that she already had a music career as a man and took a huge risk. There's no denying she's very successful, and as a public figure she's like Ibo, drawing both admiration and mockery.
On the other hand, this horrible cutting and re-cutting of her face and body is a strange reinforcement of the world's mixed and negative attitudes towards women and physical beauty. She's as much a work of surgery as anything else. A sex change is one thing-- good on her, but the things she's done to herself subsequently are morally debateable. It seems her face gets wider and weirder every month. Michael Jackson is starting to look normal next to some of these Turkish divas. I mean, she never was beautiful, but she was already a superstar and such a great diva-- why give in to these awful standards of female beauty?
Now she's kind of scary and sad, like Sezen Aksu. Both of their voices are ruined. I can't think of a good enough English equivalent to 'y�pranm� to describe them. It breaks my heart a little-- especially B�lent, wanting to become a woman, but then seeing womanhood like this.
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Duck or swan?
Hehe. I was thinking about that as I searched for a picture that really captures her, one that really makes you go 'Waaagghh!'
I have mixed feelings about B�lent. On one hand, (the swan argument) good for her being true to herself. That was pretty brave getting a sex change in Turkey in the early 80s, especially given that she already had a music career as a man and took a huge risk. There's no denying she's very successful, and as a public figure she's like Ibo, drawing both admiration and mockery.
On the other hand, this horrible cutting and re-cutting of her face and body is a strange reinforcement of the world's mixed and negative attitudes towards women and physical beauty. She's as much a work of surgery as anything else. A sex change is one thing-- good on her, but the things she's done to herself subsequently are morally debateable. It seems her face gets wider and weirder every month. Michael Jackson is starting to look normal next to some of these Turkish divas. I mean, she never was beautiful, but she was already a superstar and such a great diva-- why give in to these awful standards of female beauty?
Now she's kind of scary and sad, like Sezen Aksu. Both of their voices are ruined. I can't think of a good enough English equivalent to 'y�pranm� to describe them. It breaks my heart a little-- especially B�lent, wanting to become a woman, but then seeing womanhood like this.
Oops, this doesn't read Turkish characters-- I wrote 'yipranmis.'
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