I probably watched my first Muppet Show in 1977. Aged eleven at the time and I was a Miss Piggy fan from the start.
Once Miss Piggy, always Miss Piggy
Since I grew up in an area of Germany where carnival is generously celebrated every year, I from then on turned into a teenage version of Miss Piggy. Every year I would fasten my lovingly created pig´s ears to a ribbon in my long blond hair, attached a pig snout with a pink elastic band over my nose behind my ears and stitched a pink pig’s tail made of painted foam rubber onto my Mom´s discarded evening dress. Then I would acquire a noisy snorting and a poignant “moi” instead of I or me and thus my annual tribute to my favorite pig.
Learning femininity from a pig…
For Miss Piggy is an accomplished lady and yet heavenly rude. She is probably the most inspiring diva in the world and yes – she loves a frog. Smaller, quieter, more delicate and frailer than she… As if a Valkyrie had lost her heart to an elf. It is he whom she showers with her luscious love – including his bright green felt skin and webbed feet – as happens to be his nature. For this prince she happily becomes a furious queen and follows her heart without compromise even crossing zoological boundaries.
That she has now received a prize for feminist art is more than appropriate – even though she is more the artwork than the creator. She is the product of the perhaps most refined and endearing drag-act in the world – for behind Miss Piggy are actually male puppeteers and male voices.
…played by a man
This fortunate union of male and female qualities has been enchanting for more than four decades and is just as ageless as the aggressive femininity she occasionally expresses in a literally knock out way. Miss Piggy never has a problem being Miss Piggy and with her doubtless knowledge about the woman in the pig, she has made a most valuable contribution to feminine identity in our media age – in her own unique way. Therefore I find it particularly appropriate that this prize also honors the woman in the animal – it gives me the feeling in turn that in a certain way the animal in us women is being honored too!
Long live Miss Piggy – who might have to fight with being a slightly bit overweight but never ever with the ageing process!
