It's a thing that you see as a little girl watching Bugs Bunny

The woman who comes out to sing in the end of the opera cartoon is big and fat

And then you grow up and hear that it's "not over til the fat lady sings" 

And you learn that women in opera are fat

But then you get older

And your belly gets rounder and your breasts get heavier 

You notice that your thighs touch when you walk

And the other girls don't look like that 

And you open your mouth to sing the fun songs from the radio

But they tell you

"That doesn't sound like it's supposed to"

"Why does your voice sound like that?"

"Are you trying to be an opera singer?"

Well.

No.

You're a kid with fat strapped to your bones and your mind and your psyche 

And when the other kids tell you that it doesn't sound right when you sing, 

It's confusing.

And then you're even older

The fat is just part of who you are now.

You're the "fat friend" 

The one the cute boys don't notice, the one who can't get a decent date, the one who has to make jokes about being fat

before someone else can point it out in a way that isn't funny.

And all your friends sing

And it really is opera music now.

And you're great at it. You love it. It consumes you when you open your throat

and let it out into the world. 

but

Now there are concerns like "getting cast" and "fitting roles"

and that fat that is strapped to your personality is no longer funny.

Because you NEED to be a part of this world like breathing, 

but

There are so many girls out there who are

thinner

prettier

And it doesn't matter if you sing better than all of them 

because you've done the research

and you need to get thin.

The fat opera singer has a time and place on the stage.

But none of the stagelights she appears under are the ones you want to stand in.