Definition of a diva
 

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diva

The dictionary defines diva as a glamorous and successful female performer or personality, especially a female singer.
They also use "prima donna" which is defined as a vein or undisciplined person.

I hear the term used a lot in the femme world. What is your definition of a diva? What does it take to be a diva?

Diva
 

Makes me think of Maria Callas and Jessie Norman. The Opera Divas of the stage. Classics like Aretha Franklin, Dianna Ross, and Dionne Warwick and of course Dolly, Whitney, Mariah, Mary J. Those are the images that the word brings to mind.

:flasher:

Beauty that walks thrue our lives with grace,poise and good humor,one who graces all that she comes in contact with.Someone that shure wont take bs from people either tho she dose it with a smile.

Hmmm
 

These descriptors aren't just a Diva thang, that could apply to ALL the Femmes I know.

Yes mam, it shurely dose.

Puccini's Diva/Goddess/Muse Tosca said,
"vissi d' arte, vissi d' amore":
"I lived for art, I lived for love."

Great thread idea G Snap! (f)

I hear the word Diva a lot, I have been called one many times, especially recently. I always hope that it is in the Stud/Diva sense, but am not sure lol. :sunglass:

I think it can be used pretty differently, like 'wow you are a Diva" is so different than "wow, you are being a Diva". lol.

Working in entertainment and casting I have learned to tread softly around anyone who uses the word "Diva" in their email address. We cast for ensemble shows on ships and everyone we have cast in a show who self identifies as "Diva" does not do well getting along smoothly with other cast members and what is expected of them. If the email adress is anything like "mad-dogDiva@....." we do not cast them. lol

It actually freaks me out to be called a Diva. ;)

In Italy, in the sixteenth century opera and on...the composer always wrote the music to match a particular Diva's emotional temperment. Opera is nothing without the Diva.As in a successful show today, you put together a show with the music to match that particular Diva's temperment. You have to study the Diva closely. Donna Summer and Madonna had two distinct temperments.

I consider myself to be a diva goddess type femme even when I'm covered in mud and chicken shit. Diva goddess is a state of mind

I'm distictly tempermental and I definitely like to call the shots, run the show and be waited on ;).

The shows where I work with are commercial, not art...we cater to the temperament of our audience. A true Diva in the musical sense is an artist, a goddess.

we are so much a like

When I think of Diva as a noun - my mind first turns to high drag: flamboyant, meticulously feminine, be-dazzled, over the top, star-of-the-show drag queens.

When I think of diva as an adjective - it conjures the synonyms: high maintenance, demanding, difficult, must-be-the-centre-of-attention type descriptors.

Diva
 

My granddaughter is a Diva - She's happiest when all the attention is on her -When shopping for one specific type of shoe, she must try on every color, flat or pump, she dare not miss something as she fears this could be the one thing she could not live without - She wants what she wants when she wants it and the world is a better place when she has it - and if you love her (hear comes the emotional blackmail) you'll want her to have it.
Over indulgence is not in her vocabulary nor is it to be in yours when it comes to her desires.l

Diva...
 

As odd as this my sound, I too was called a 'Diva' a couple of times, and I am anything but femme.

It was back many years when I roamed the countryside, playing guitar and singing in bars and clubs. When used, it came from those that had somehow been touched by my words and music. Not by my attitude or apparel.

I sang in jeans, or shorts, or overalls, or whatever was handy, somewhat clean, and never ironed. Given the standard definition of the word, it was certainly nothing most would consider 'diva-ish'.

Essentially, I am not at all sure 'diva' can be compartmentalized. It seems to be one of those 'eye of the beholder' things. One of those personal perceptions along the line of 'you know it when you see or feel it'. I was not accomplished. I was not bejeweled or sparkly. I was the absolute opposite of high-maintenance. There was absolutely nothing glamorous about me. I was none of those things the universal 'we' think of when speaking of a 'diva'. Yet to some, it was the word used to describe my person and my performance.

I do not know the fate of those that called me 'diva'. Perhaps they were just crazy folks that now reside in mental institutions across the nation. Regardless, in a less than stellar performer, dresser, and music-writer, for one shining moment, they saw in me, a 'diva'.

That story made me smile! True talent shining.