Date a person with a Harelip?

Before dealing with a topic I encountered throughout my adolescence and young adulthood, a few words about Jack Dupree and the lyrics to the song he sang in the You Tube video posted in my last blog.

Singing the “Harelip Blues.”

So here’s what I found out about the song, but not becasue of Snopes (see prior blog). I dug a bit and found–according to a Wiki article–that Jack Dupree sometimes used the equivalent of poetic license for singers—an artistic conceit—by singing as if he had a cleft lip and palate. This, despite the fact that he had excellent, clear speech, particularly for a blues singer.

So, amid his blues and boogie-woogie, Dupree would mimic a cleft palate. In keeping with his wry and clever way with words, he even recorded under the name Harelip Jack Dupree. He got away with all this because, being born around 1910, his audiences were less sophisticated and less PC inclined than today’s.

My guess is that all the references to “Harelip Blues” lyrics on the net—and especially the claim that certain singers sang the song—is the result of websites created by robots.

Stacey Keach  Actor w cleft lip

So, back to the topic of today’s blog:  would you someone with a hare lip? This is a common question cleft-afflicted people ask. I deal with this topic in Cleft Heart during my middle and high school years—a period when rating, dating, and mating go on, as the saying used to go.

Date a person with a hare lip?

Here’s the question a guy asked on Yahoo and a coupla responses to his question, including his fave one. I’ve added the boldfacing:

Asker
I was born with a cleft lip and palate, 26 years old 6ft 2 in, in great shape and have never had a girlfriend before , I’ve been told by women that I’m hot and adorable but have never had a girlfriend because of my low self confidence about my self image. Girls would you date a guy who was born with a cleft lip and palate? I really want a girlfriend badly.

Best Answer according to Asker:
Pamela

Have you ever seen Joaquin Phoenix? WOW! That’s one hot guy! He also has the scar from a cleft lip & palate yet he is one of the best actors of our time. He obviously had the confidence to overcome this and pursue his dream and has become very successful.You have answered your own question really. You know you look good and you’ve been told you look good but you have low self-confidence. I can PROMISE you that it’s not the scar that is turning the women off. It’s the low self-confidence.Truth is, we all have scars of some kind. Not all of them show. Some are inside. All have the potential to bind us if we allow them. This may sound cold but you need to just get over it. You obviously have a lot of good qualities.  Why would you let what you perceive (but many don’t) as a bad quality negate all of the positive things you have to offer a woman? Do you think the scar is more important than your personality? Do you think it’s more important than your heart? If you find a woman who sees it as a turn-off I can promise you she is not worth your time.God bless you!
Asker’s rating & comment  4 out of 5

Asker
I like honest answers, thank you. I’ll take your advice on the low self confidence.

Ms Ambitious
where do you live?? 6’2″ is perfect for 5’10” **wink, wink** : )
if women tell you you are hot, why not believe them.

Asker
Update : I’ve had seven surgeries. I was born with the less severe cleft lip called a lateral.

Update 2: I live in Chicago, and have had braces twice!

Update 3: I was physically and mentally abused in grammar school and high school, and was a cutter in my teenage years.

Gentle blog reader: What do you think of these answers? And do the updates cause you pause?
To be continued…