Aretha Franklin proud to be a 'big woman'

[buttmunch]

When she sang about Respect for the first time in 1967, Aretha Franklin was a svelte brunette. Forty years on, she is almost unrecognisable.
In a blonde wig, spilling out of a low-cut gown, a much larger Queen of Soul appeared at a gala dinner in Washington on Friday.

And Miss Franklin couldn't be happier. For the first time, she says, the real Aretha is on stage - a "big woman" who loves her food.


The 63-year-old has revealed she spent decades starving herself to stay slim.

"For a long time I suffered so much trying to be what other people expected me to be and look like," she told the Canyon News website.

"I definitely was never meant to be a modeltype walking down a runway - I'm just Aretha singing what she feels in her heart and soul. So far, people seem to understand..."

The audience at the National Association of Black-Owned Broadcasters gala dinner certainly seemed satisfied, giving the mother of four a standing ovation.

dailymail.co.uk

If someone wants, there is a picture link here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...a_source=&ct=5

I guess it's good she's come to accept herself. On the other hand, she is really big and is sur to have health problems as a result. Come on Aretha, you don't need to starve. Just slim down a bit and make sure we can hear that fab voice for a long time to come.

[calendargurl]

she's proud to be a morbidly obese ticking time bomb?

[MrsDark]

Okay, much as I love her, it's been quite a few BigMacs since Aretha has been merely a *big woman*. For chrissake, a size 8 is considered a *big woman* in L.A. But even by normal standards, she's mos def morbidly obese now.

[buttmunch]

Ha...it is pretty funny that a size 8 is considered big. Although alot of clothing chains have changed the sizing of their clothes so that what used to be a size eight is really a size ten of twenty years ago. Shit, now that I remind myself of that, I need to hit the gym.

[HWBL]

Will she, posthumously, be proud to be a dead woman?

[hortoen]

bigger pics from that event

http://editorial.gettyimages.com/sou...57060739&cdi=0
http://editorial.gettyimages.com/sou...57058588&cdi=0
http://editorial.gettyimages.com/sou...57058180&cdi=0
http://editorial.gettyimages.com/sou...57058179&cdi=0
http://editorial.gettyimages.com/sou...57058136&cdi=0
http://editorial.gettyimages.com/sou...57058125&cdi=0

there are no words

[moomies]

There's a difference when midly chubby otherwise healthy women are proud to be "big" and someone as dangerously obese as Aretha says she is proud, that sort of sends the wrong message IMO.

[Tiara]

^^ Definitely, I'd rather a healthy bit of meat on a woman than a stick insect but Aretha is dangerously obease, she should be very worried about her health and doing everything she can to shift some of the weight, not announcing to the world that she's proud of her size. I guess she's just got to a stage where she feels the easiest thing to do is just accept herself or kid herself.

I don't think we have to worry about too many youngsters following in Aretha's footsteps though, I can't see this 'trend' taking off!

[Barbara]

You can love your food without becoming a whale

[Grimmlok]

By Nicole Lampert, Daily Mail
13 March 2006

When she sang about Respect for the first time in 1967, Aretha Franklin was a svelte brunette. Forty years on, she is almost unrecognisable.


In a blonde wig, spilling out of a low-cut gown, a much larger Queen of Soul appeared at a gala dinner in Washington on Friday.

And Miss Franklin couldn't be happier. For the first time, she says, the real Aretha is on stage - a 'big woman' who loves her food.

The 63-year-old has revealed she spent decades starving herself to stay slim.

'For a long time I suffered so much trying to be what other people expected me to be and look like,' she told the Canyon News website.

'I definitely was never meant to be a model-type walking down a runway - I'm just Aretha singing what she feels in her heart and soul. So far, people seem to understand...'

The audience at the National Association of Black-Owned Broadcasters gala dinner certainly seemed satisfied, giving the mother of four a standing ovation.

[Grimmlok]

oh piss off

[Grimmlok]

Screw you, simian!

Anyhoo, bitch needs to get on a treadmill and ditch the twinkies. When you have cellulite on your forearms, that's NASTY.

[ConstanceSpry]

She is not a "big woman", she is dangerously obese and needs to lose weight ASAP. If she sunbathed on the beach, Greenpeace would try to push her back in the water.

[dakodas]

Does she think she is Mariah or Beyonce? Why is she blond????

[WickedHo]

She is not a "big woman." She is a fat sack of meat. What a shame.