[Avodah] fashion models and opera singers

[Daniel Israel]

On Wed, 02 May 2007 17:41:06 +0000 Zev Sero <zev at sero.name> wrote:
>As I said, I don't think it's even a "one side of the river" case.
>...
>But in our case the man has bought his ticket, dressed up, is 
sitting
>in his seat, and is going to hear a woman sing, no matter what you 
do.
>Your singing isn't even going to cause him to hear more kol isha 
than
>he would otherwise do, because if you turn down the gig then the 
woman
>who replaces you will sing exactly the same songs, for exactly the
>same amount of time.  And by you taking the gig that other woman 
>will *not* sing.

Assuming this is correct, and I'm not commenting on that question 
at all, it could imply that there is a problem in a case where the 
woman in question would otherwise be replaced by a man, or fewer 
songs would be sung.  An open mike, for example, or a talent show.  
American Idol, perhaps.

It also could mean that a lifnei iver problem could arise if the 
woman in question became sufficiently prominent that her 
involvement was a draw.  Certainly when Kathleen Battle sang 
Zerlina (for example) there were people who bought tickets, got 
dressed up, and sat in their seats precisely because she was 
singing.  There were fewer (or no) unsold seats over the run.  So 
there would be a real chashash that her singing led to certain 
additional people coming.  Of course, she isn't Jewish (AFAIK) so 
no problem.  But this question might have been of interest to Belle 
Miriam Silverman.

--
Daniel M. Israel
dmi1 at cornell.edu