I can't believe I'm posting about this, but...

[mijan]

Britney Spears.  Yes, I'm posting about everyone's favourite blond skank-whore "singer".  For once, I'm actually on her side... to an extent.

Apparently, she's put on a *tiny* bit of weight.  She's no longer a scrawny, scraggly little stick-figure.  She has a tiny little itty-bitty NORMAL-sized gut.  She's still slender.  Technically, if it weren't for the fact that it's HER, I'd say she's pretty hot (physically, only... I still can't stand her music, or her in general).  However, she performed in her usual skank-whore outfit, and people saw that she actually had more than 2% body fat, and everyone is calling her FAT.

GOOD GRIEF, PEOPLE!  There are plenty of GOOD reasons to insult Ms. Spears.  Insult her outfit because it's ALWAYS been skanky... nothing but a bra and underwear on stage while she was still a teenager.  (Fuck, you wanna talk about child porn?  LJ, look no farther than pics of Britney when she was a pip-squeak.)  Insult her 55-hour marriage.  Pick on her emo freak outs.  Insult her "music".  Point out her suck-tastic lip-synching.  Laugh at her blank expression and loss of physical coordination.

But... for goodness sake... do NOT call her fat!  She's NOT FAT!  She's simply no longer anorexic-looking.  We shouldn't be saying "She shouldn't wear that outfit, now that she's fat."  We should be saying that she NEVER should have worn that outfit because it makes her look like a two-bit whore, regardless of her weight.  (Really, save it for the bedroom.)

If we're calling Britney Spears fat because she has a three-ounce pooch-belly, then we should hang our heads in shame because our expectations of celebrities have finally gone off the deep end.  This is less about Britney Spears than it is about our own social perceptions of weight and the female body-image.  It's sad.  It's really sad.  I don't particularly like watching her parading herself like a skank, and I DESPISE her "style" of music.  So I don't watch her performances or listen to her music.  I saw a video clip of her performance on the news, and listened to about a dozen people commenting on her weight, calling her fat.  I was disgusted.  Britney Spears is many things... many of those things are negative... but she is NOT fat.

*sign-grumble*  And we wonder why little girls are starving themselves, and models are anorexic... we're causing it!  The media started it, but the CONSUMERS pushed it!

What is this world coming to?

Comments

[belluthien.livejournal.com]

... This whole thing with weight and body image has bothered me All of my life... I hate it.

I am of your mind 100% with regards to Brittany Spears...
The world is a sad place.
y

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Very sad, indeed.

By the way, I'd meant to get in touch with you. I know your costume-work is extremely expensive, but... what would you say to the possibility of helping out with wedding robes/dresses?

[belluthien.livejournal.com]

Well, I would say that would sound Very interesting. As long as there are no Bridezillas involved... (;D ... insert laughter...)

You can e-mail me here: yelpriva (at) everestkc (dot) net, and we can discuss details.

What is the date? :)
y

[lunalovegoddess.livejournal.com]

Just a quick comment:
I went to your site, and your work is amazing! A custom garment made by you looks a lot better than some of the store-bought dresses and other seamstress sites I've been looking at. It's difficult to find an affordable, well-fitting dress when you are plus-sized like me.

[poetheather.livejournal.com]

Brittany has really fallen off the deep end. But she isn't fat. She has really upped the amount of skank out there but that was because she thought that was sexy. There are articles out there about her MTV misadventure and the fact that the network wanted her to cover-up some more, with a corset top but she refused, saying it wasn't sexy.

But fat? I saw pics of her performance and the girl isn't fat. She has a healthy body weight, for like once in her life. Sadly, that may be the only good thing going for her right now.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Yep. She may absolutely suck in every other regard, but she's not fat.

The media ought to ignore her until she develops talent... which would mean we'd never have to hear about her again, probably.

[poetheather.livejournal.com]

I think she has sacrificed her talent at the altar of Drama. I think Paris Hilton turned her into a moral-less zombie minion. If she can break free and realize that entertaining is about well...you know entertaining, she might be able to crawl back. Maybe.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Meh. I never liked Britney's "music", and never paid attention to her either way. So, whatever she does, it doesn't much matter to me, because I never liked her anyway. Every time I hear something about her in the news, she's being stupid, but there are stupid people all over the place. Britney just happens to be famous, dresses like a whore, and too many little girls try to emulate her. *shrugs* At one point, she was a little bit talented. More of her fame, from what I could tell, was fabricated though.

[ackonrad.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Thank you so much. I actually got into a fight with my mother last evening, because she, a woman who weighs 80 kg, had the insolence to call Britney fat.

It's disgusting how people with a healthy weight are called fat, while we admire the anorexic-looking models and look up to them.

Do you mind if I link your post from my LJ?

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Feel free to link. Please do. Like I said, this is less about Britney and more about our social standards and judgements.

And your mum is 80kg... and she called Britney fat??? I'm curious... what did you say in response?

[annulvapore.livejournal.com]

I'd still hit it.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

You'd hit Mama Cass if she was still around. *wink*

[supremediva.livejournal.com]

It wasn't that she's fat. It was that she was FAR from in shape. She's probably about the same size she was when she was hot, only she's not toned.... which is not pretty in that skanky little outfit.

She chose to do this big comeback.... it was all hyped and she was supposed to be her normal, amazingly entertaining self. But she put on no sort of show. She was lipsyncing BADLY, she made herself look fat by her choice of outfit, barely danced, had that horrible ass weave in her hair, and almost fell on her ass twice. This girl used to be an ENTERTAINER. Girl used to put on a SHOW. Now? Nothin.

Now the most entertaining thing we get out of her is her attacking KFed's car with an umbrella.

That's sad.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm not defending her for anything else. I still think she has no talent, and I should have made a comment about her lip-synching, or how much she generally sucked... but the big thing everyone is talking about is how fat she is. As I said, we can insult her for so many things... but not for being fat.

Fair?

[supremediva.livejournal.com]

Fair indeed :)

I just meant her choice of outfit made her appear "fat" (as in not tone) when she isn't. Though she's a far cry from the Britney she once was!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I wish I was as fat as Britney. :-P

[colloween.livejournal.com]

I wish I was as toned as Britney!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

LOL, that too! And she's had two kids, so I hardly have an excuse. :-P

[mijan.livejournal.com]

I wish I was as rich as Britney. She can keep the rest if it.

[djin7.livejournal.com]

I agree. However, I'm also jaded, so it is not surprising at all that the press and others have fixated on this-what better way to make yourself feel better about the rich, beautiful and famous by bringing them down a few pegs to 'real people' status, flawed and all - OMG Britney has a tummy! (OMG she's had 2 kids!)

It appears to be typical human behaviour for the average joe/lene to make themselves feel better, the standard "..thick ankles."

It's only a much bigger playground than the average, the tabloid version of what is happening everyday to all people in some way. There is always going to be someone jealous of something YOU have that they don't, and vice versa.

Unfortunately for Britney, she flaunted what she had, and now they want to take it away from her. What she doesn't lose on her own, that is.


/cynic.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, people like to rip people down to make themselves feel better... but as we're ripping down Britney Spears by calling her fat... how many little girls who are the same size as her are going to think they're fat, and begin starving themselves? It's just... there are plenty of other things to insult Britney Skank about... we should leave her weight alone because there are other reprecussions for that.

[djin7.livejournal.com]

OH yes, I agree, but all I'm saying is that the press and public are having a field day tearing down Britney, and don't care about the repercussions of what they are saying to people other than her and her fans. Which is low, but disgustingly human nature.

You wait, there will be an outcry, and soon they will be milking the Britney thing in all the women's mags decrying the utter unfairness of her beautiful body being regarded as 'fat'. There will be quotes and pictures of those who are proud to be shapely and those who are looking scarily skinny. There will be articles on heroin models and actresses who can't get work because they put on 10 lbs of fat when they gave birth.

If you build it, they will come.

[scarlet-malfoy.livejournal.com]

If Britney Spears is fat, then I am a rhinocerous.

Crazy, crazy ridiculous world.

I totally meant to respond to your last post about Convergence but didn't for some reason so I'll say it here: YAY! CONVERGENCE! :D

[mijan.livejournal.com]

LOL... I did some serious work on Convergence today. Here's hoping it continues!

And to me, skinny chicks like Britney aren't sexy. They're not WOMEN. They're scrawney little girls, and... YUCK.

Real women have curves.

[greyandgrey.livejournal.com]

You have a totally valid point!

... I've just heard more people insulting the performance because she looked stoned, didn't dance well, and her lip-syncing was off. Though, if her entire performance *hadn't* lacked energy, talent, and any indication of interest in performing well, people would still be insulting her weight/figure.

It's really amazing to me how many people validly want her to do well and genuinely want her to make this miraculous comeback. Personally? I hope she drops out of the public sphere and learns to be a responsible mother because right now I feel damned sorry for her kids.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

She really should have quit while she was ahead. Well... she was no longer "ahead". She should have just quit before she embarrassed herself again.

"Oops, she did it again."

[kawaiililme.livejournal.com]

Cheers! IAWTC! The only thing wrong with her body is her hair

[mijan.livejournal.com]

*snicker*

Really, the only thing wrong with her body is that she displays it like a whore. If she wore a nice outfit, she'd look fine. She's not fat... she's just a no-talent skank. *grins*

(BTW, I love your icon.)

[kawaiililme.livejournal.com]

lol thanks! I asked my friend to make it for me because I needed a "this is stupid" icon.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Hear, hear. I was stunned when people started saying she looked fat on TV, because when I look at her I see a size I'd really love to be. It makes me want to throw shit at the media. It's so fucking sexist!

[anathema91.livejournal.com]

I couldn't agree with you more!
She's most definitely NOT fat. And it bugs me that people would fixate on that of all things.

Especially since Britney is so kind as to give us much more interesting fodder to mock her about, like her batshit insanity in general, or her absolutely appalling performance at the VMAs. Or, yes, her truly skanky taste in clothing.

We as a society are getting waaay to fixated on the idea of women being scarily skinny. I saw Kiera Knightley the other night at a Film Fest appearance, and I just wanted to take her home and feed her something fattening. She looks ill, she's so rail-thin!

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Precisely.

[coffee-n-cocoa.livejournal.com]

I couldn't agree more. She's undoubtedly a two-bit no-talent skank with no sense of fashion or decorum, but she's not fat. I'd be thrilled if I had her body, especially after having kids!

[zentariana.livejournal.com]

I agree.
I thought she looked really good, actually. Lost, but good.

[karaz.livejournal.com]

I didn't get past the horrible performance and the half-done weave and the skanky outfit to check out her abs - so that can't have been that bad. However, she's had two kids so I'd think we could cut her some slack even if she did have a bit more in that area.

That said, certain outfits demand coat-hanger figures to pull off - even when not skanky. As a celebrity who was meant to be having some huge come-back, you'd think she'd have a bit of concern about that. At this point though, I really think that woman has lost her mind, the pressure has just cracked her and she's oblivious. I can believe I'm going to say this, but I feel bad for her too.

[topaz7.livejournal.com]

Wow, a voice of sanity! Thank you, thank you.

She's seriously fucked up and shouldn't have been there, obviously. She seemed stoned. She probably is on something for depression, and should likely be in therapy (I hope she is).

But fat? No. If she's fat, 95% of the western world is morbidly obese.

Well, maybe we are anyway, but still...

[gmonkey42.livejournal.com]

I agree 100%.

You know what scares me about it? "Fat" is a totally subjective term - if everybody says Britney is fat then does that make it true? and therefore I'm a fuckin' hippo? Maybe it's self-centered but that's what bothers me most about it.

[sulky-rhino.livejournal.com]

She gained weight? What was that, like 2kg? I didn't notice she gained weight. o_O

Her performance sucked though. :P

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there was plenty of VALID stuff that was insult-worthy about Britney and her suck-tastic performance that we don't need to call a normal-sized woman "fat". Insult her for things that DESERVE insulting! She's many negative things, but not fat.

[sulky-rhino.livejournal.com]

I think she's a bit on the thin side actually. :P

[yaycoffee.livejournal.com]

AMEN!

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

OMG, I KNOW!

That's been driving me insane. Thank you for saying it.

[fiona-fawkes.livejournal.com]

Great big fucking WORD SISTER!

[curia-regis.livejournal.com]

Word.

Seriously. I had a similar rant on my journal. Sheesh, I think she actually looks healthy.

And honestly? The outfit doesn't look that bad. I think those outfits look better on people who don't look anorexic. I don't like ribs (except on a plate with sauce) and I don't wanna see them on stage. :p

[fleurdeliser.livejournal.com]

Word.

Of all the negative things I thought when I saw a clip of the performance, I did not think her fat.

[regicidaldwarf.livejournal.com]

WORD. One hundred percent, word. The exact same things bothers me to no end when in the grocery store check out line (with the magazines staring me in the face). GOD it's disgusting.

[lily-fayline.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately the world has been there for years, which is why I've always admired Kate Winslet so much: normal body, looks amazing, and not becoming a stick insect does not keep one from getting 5 oscar nominations. But for every Kate W is a Kate B or a Keira Knightley, whose emaciated face-shot from Atonement is just scary.
And Britney: totally normal shape; like people said, just needs to tone up a bit, but weight-wise? Not a thing wrong with her. Hopefully the Dove girls will swing public opinion towards favouring the normal over the anorexic (at least for a while) again, but as long as size 0 is something to aspire to, I doubt it.

[destinyfroste.livejournal.com]

Wow...I just watched the video of it. I used to respect the fact that the girl could dance but shit...she barely moved and just ran her hands through her hair a couple times.