The season 1 winner of La Voix is making headlines for the hate she has been receiving regarding a fashion choice.
Valérie Carpentier is a 23 year old musician and won the first season of La Voix, which is the French Canadian version of The Voice. She released her latest album "Pour Rosie" in November 2016 after her first album "L’été Des Orages" went gold in 2015.
Early in May, she was in the media after she debuted a character named Rosie, and over the last few days she’s in the news again because of a sweater that many feel was too revealing for television.
On Sunday, May 7, 2017, Valérie went back to her roots to perform her version of a song by Louis Chedid titled On ne dit jamais assez aux gens qu’on aime qu’on les aime on the season finale of La Voix. During her performance, she wore a turtleneck top that had a sheer v-neckline. The singer has been getting a lot of backlash for this outfit, which has opened the door for a conversation on women's bodies, since those that have had a negative response to the revealing neckline feel they have the right to tell a woman how much skin is too much skin.
This is not the first time in the last month that this conversation has occurred regarding the performer, since on May 2nd she revealed the character Rosie, who wears a long rose gold wig, tight, revealing clothing, stilettos, and always seems to have her nails perfectly manicured. Once the character was released, some of Valérie's fans were critical since they were worried that she was going to be dressed in this manner from now on, and they felt that it was too sexy. In the statement she made on her official Facebook she says "Je décide d'incarner le personnage, question de me dévouer entièrement à mon art et d'aller au bout de mes fantaisies imaginaires. Résultat: "Valérie a changé de style! Que lui arrive-t-elle? C'est beau, c'est sexy, ou non c'est moche elle était mieux avant....""
On her Instagram account she took it upon herself to stand up to those that are judging her with a picture of herself topeless with only two of her albums covering her breasts. She accompanied the image with the caption "Vous voulez me juger selon ce que je porte? Tous ce qui me couvre ici c'est mon album. Écoutez-le avant de prétendre savoir qui je suis... Jugez les femmes sur ce qu'elles font, pour qui elles sont. Et nos corps sont magnifiques et nous appartiennent. #womenempowerment #hatersgonnahate
We live in a world that judges everyone by how they look and what they are wearing, and many people believe that if you wear clothing that is revealing you are not being a good role model, but this could not be further from the truth. Valerie has been wearing clothing that makes her feel confident, and that was evident in her performance on La Voix. She went up on stage to sing a song from her latest album, one that she may never have been given the chance to make without La Voix, and she put on an amazing performance for everyone watching, but no one is talking about that, all they care about is that she showed cleavage. In her official statement Valerie said "C'est pas normal qu'on me juge toujours sur ce que je porte sans même chercher à entendre ce que j'ai à dire, sans même écouter ma musique, qui en passant est ma véritable et plus grande passion dans la vie." People have taken it upon themselves to take this beautiful and talented woman and reduce her to an object that is meant to look and act in a way that the public deems appropriate.
Photo credits: @carpentiervalerie