The charisma of the “fat feminist lesbian from Arkansas” and fashion icon Beth Ditto returns to the Madrid stage

Once said Edith Piaf, To use the words that transcend her most: “Use your shortcomings and you will become a star.” Today, in complete madness From the pot, Perhaps she would not have chosen those words, and would have chosen to say “non-normative qualities” instead of “defects,” although we all completely understand her.

Beth Ditto (1981) Singer of the band gossip Followed the French singer’s advice exactly. No worries, Because if something isn’t her, it’s cliché. That’s why years ago she defined herself as a “fat feminist lesbian from Arkansas.” No sweeteners. And no deodorant, as he once boasted Don’t use it (The reason is If you’re a punk, you must smell bad). Because when you start covering things up Euphemism The opposite of what you want can happen to you: instead of empowering yourself, you hide under layer after layer of words, and ultimately you’re not seen. She understood this from the beginning, and she was absolutely right. Notoriety She didn’t earn this honor by losing weight and acting like a good popular girl.

Like Piaf, Beth Ditto exploited her Physical Singularity Collaborate to build a Very powerful character Since the birth of his synth rock band Vocalsin Washington, D.C., in 1999. Over time, the aesthetics of this entity were shaped and refined with the valuable help of hairdressers and fashion designers, many of whom came to love it. Jean Paul Gaultier (She designed the wedding dress, 2013),Alessandro Michele (on his Gucci stage) and Jeremy Scott They are declared fans (we see the latter on his knees in front of his leading lady in the photo).

In 2010, we saw her focusing on Front Row Parade Galliano In Paris. She herself had attended Fashion Show, The last one was during the last London Fashion Week Jeffery Loverboy. He also participated in the parade Marc Jacobs In 2014, such exposure to fashion also led her to start her own business. In 2016, she founded her own plus-size fashion brand. It didn’t go smoothly. If the British New Music Express He named her The coolest character in rock This is no accident.

From a humble family, they ate squirrels

The story of this unique woman, whose vocal range is Cyndi Lauper (Not so sharp) The band he backed owes much of its popularity to it, which began in the small town of Searcy, Arkansas. Then she was known as Mary Beth Patterson. Based on what we know of his biography, his house must have looked very similar to his. extended family The protagonist of the Shameless series. So, at the age of 13, Beth decided to leave that environment and go live with her aunt.

I knew I was born to sing since at least age 10, when I became obsessed with 60s bands. Mom and DadHe said his mother used it to teach him to “sing properly.” At the time, he said (and this caused some public scandal) that his family I ate squirrel. This was apparently common in his native Arkansas. Details such as his father’s love of “boiling squirrel heads and sucking the brains through their trunks” caused genuine public consternation when they were revealed (at this point I will allow myself to say that I almost had a Scottish boyfriend faint when he found out we were eating snails in Spain).

The childhood experience has carved a deep sense of independence in her heart and made her mind more independent. At the same time that she decided to explore the possibilities of success that a female body, which is completely inconsistent with the successful body, has brought her, she decided to do the same with her tongue. That is, it is decided to be unique, unique and unmistakable.

Two nude works that went down in rock history

When Gossip came out in 1999, Beth Ditto’s onstage presence was truly provocative. Not because he was overweight, but because from minute zero he made it a source of pride.. By 2007, the legendary New Music Express He proposed to put her on the cover completely nude, and fans have recognized every wrinkle, nook and cranny of her body.

Of course, this issue caused a huge media stir, and not one or two people asked Beth Ditto herself about it. Reasons for being naked So irregular. Her response was that showing her body clearly showed what Proud of how she felt about him, yes Not accepted of Culturally imposed physical norms and his Support overweight people, I think I am helping them to be proud of their bodies too. Note: At this time almost no one has ever heard of what is called body fine skin. There, she was a true pioneer.

Feminist Germaine Greer He said of the cover: “NME had the courage to put the coolest woman on the planet on the cover. Beth Ditto gave them the kind of image they were looking for: flashy, but certainly not obscene. Her aim was to force people to accept her as 1.52 meters tall and weighing 95 kilograms, challenging the traditional image of women with this strategy. She was only 25 when she made this cover. He remembers it vividly, but he is still proud of it.

This wasn’t the last time she posed nude on a cover. like, The ambitious fashion and celebrity magazine, which debuted in 2009, just happened to feature nude photos of Beth Ditto.

A tall queer reference

exist 2013 The singer married a Hawaiian Kristen Ogata, She and he had been dating for years. So in a way, this was the culmination of his long career as a queer reference point and defender. LGTBIQ+ rights. This militancy takes on a nuance rarely seen in our time. Now she is very focused on defending Transgender rights -Gossip bassist, Teddy Life, is a transgender person- for example, does not understand the point of focusing energy on those who are considered enemies of the debate, e.g. Cancel J.K. Rowling. He said: “I don’t want us to focus on trying to change JK Rowling’s opinion. I don’t care what she thinks of me. I don’t care what she thinks of anybody. We’re talking about people who are risking something to lose; it’s about making them feel empowered to keep fighting for what’s right.

On August 30, we will see in Madrid Beth Ditto on stage Kalorama Festival It’s possible that he was just passing through Berlin a few days ago, with the most orange hair and getting everything out of his energetic body. This year, the band released its first studio album in 12 years, titled Real powerOf course, at the concert the most famous songs of the band will be played, those legendary “Standing in the Way of Control” (2006) or “Heavy Cross” (2009). We will be there to celebrate the return of the band that has made the most of recent decades.