But Boyle's rapid ascent to fame has been plagued by prejudice from the start. The contrast between her outward appearance--which elicited an cynical response from the viewers before her first performance--and the power and beauty of her singing voice, revealed something ugly in each of us. The world was shocked by her voice, and overnight our hypocrisy was revelaed. Everyone felt it. And by supporting Susan Boyle, everyone could deny their first reactions, and proudly announce that they were above making such harsh judgements based only on appearances.
Now that Boyle's performance in the media circus is over, one would think that we have learned our lesson; not to judge, not to make assumptions, not to belittle somebody because of appearances alone.
Yet today, the Guardian--a highly-respected publication--covers the event in an article that constantly refers to Boyle as 'the Scottish spinster.'
It's interesting that they chose that word. 'Spinster' is not neutral in the sense that it simply means 'an unmarried woman.' It implies that there is a reason a woman is unmarried. The following definition is taken from the Oxford American Dictionary--included as part of the OS with all Macs:
USAGE The development of the word spinster is a good example of the way in which a word acquires strong connotations to the extent that it can no longer be used in a neutral sense. From the 17th century, the word was appended to names as the official legal description of an unmarried woman: : Elizabeth Harris of Boston, Spinster . This type of use survives today in some legal and religious contexts. In modern everyday English, however, spinster cannot be used to mean simply ‘unmarried woman’; it is now always a derogatory term, referring or alluding to a stereotype of an older woman who is unmarried, childless, prissy, and repressed.
It's strange that the Guardian would choose to use such a derogatory term. It seems that even in achieving world fame, Boyle cannot escape our petty prejuduces.
