her difficulties dancing & lip-synching at the Video Music Awards notwithstanding, is Britney Spears really fat?
Major newspapers and gossip columns have referred to her as "as big as a house," "lard," fat, etc.
But is this the face of "fat?"
Or is this an average woman's body clothed in a Las Vegas dance outfit and nobody will forgive her for breaking the illusion?
Well, I'm a little disturbed by the sheer volume of venom this obviously troubled woman has received.
But apparently not as much as this fellow:
ohmygod that is the gayest person alive. actually, i take that back, we dont claim him. he is not one of us.
ReplyDeletePS. She looked bigger than John Goodman standing next to a midget.
Did you notice how slow she was moving? She was heinous.
The whole time I was saying, "you know, Britney? Rihanna and Beyonce claimed the pop diva thrones you and Xtina used to carry, just give up and go take care of your chillins..."
Sarah Silverman was so dead on the show should've just ended with her monologue.
I really didn't think she was faat, but the outfit didn't do her any justice either. Really, when I saw it, it looked like she was just kind of bored and wasn't into being part of the show.
ReplyDeleteYour comments on puncturing the illusion are spot on; but really, celebrities are supposed to be the illusion. That is what they're paid for. I just read "Survival of the Prettiest" the other day, & it really homes in on the subject.
ReplyDeleteBritney Spears isn't fat (she's still in better physical shape than the average person, male or female), but since her job description is "hot female in great shape able to lip sync, dance, and smile at the same time", it was clearly a failure of massive proportions (pun not intended; damn you subconscious!)
ReplyDeleteI'd say the whole thing is sad. She clearly has no one able to tell her "No" (as in "No Britney, you shouldn't perfrom until you are practiced, in shape, and physically able"), no help from anyone meaningful, and most possibly substance abuse problems ("she's clearly stoned/drunk" was a common reaction to seeing the video).
I hope she drops out of public sight entirely, gets her sh*t together, and finds some happiness. But that isn't going to happen making a fool of herself in public.
That's not fat. It's probably thinner than avereage. It's not the toned look she had at her peak, but it's not fat.
ReplyDeleteThe performance was diappointing b/c there was no energy or showmanship to it.
I really don't understand the "fat" thing, either. Like I said to my wife as we were watching, she's back to looking pretty hot. It's just that now she's "drunken stripper going through the motions at the Bada Bing" hot, rather than the "oh my god how can anyone have a body so perfect" hot she once personified.
ReplyDeleteThat Chris Brown can dance his ass off, though.
I think the media have confused definition of fat.
ReplyDeleteShe looks hot in that picture. There. I said it.
Fat is a harsh word, and isn't really indicative of what was wrong with her on Sunday. She was lethargic and unprepared, and seems incapable of overcoming her rampaging inner demons. When you shave your head in public, are routinely exposed as a lousy parent, and have been outclassed by Kevin F'in Federline since the split, not only do you have issues, but your issues have issues.
ReplyDeletewe live in an extremely superficial society, what do you expect.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I did catch the performance when it aired and ended up talking about it just because she (Britney) looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but on that stage.
She is most certainly not fat. The media and celebrity blogs have distorted this story and angle so much. However, I don't think the costume and bad extensions were the most appropriate for her.
ReplyDeletePart of the issue with the performance is that she was trying to recapture who she was a few years ago. That's NEVER going to happen for any performer. I think if she would have evolved musically since then and changed the entire style of her performance, then she may have had a shot. But you can't be something you're not.
Britney was all about showmanship: the unattainable body (for most people), the looks, the dance moves. It was never about her voice or what her songs said. She didn't/doesn't have a voice and her songs were bubblegum.
Back on point. To answer your question: not fat.
Qualifier: I am 5'9 1/2" tall, and currently weigh 155lbs. I hit a personal "high" of 190lbs. last year, and haven't been below 150lbs. for any length of time in ten years or more. All the weight goes to my "trunk," so even when overweight I'm said to look "skinny." I've never dated anyone who weighed more than me, and tend to gravitate toward size 0-2.
ReplyDeleteBritney Spears in not fat. She's never been fat a day in her life. Her current BMI looks to be middle to high average, which makes her well below average in our increasingly gluttonous society. Not to racially stereotype, but I work with a lot of black dudes, and the ones I spoke with thought she looked hot. It is easy to blame the media, but I can't tell you how often I hear obese women rip apart a Britney Spears because she dares to play the sex symbol. These are like the guys who keep ripping on Pete Wentz or that kid from "High School Musical" out of pure jealousy or transferred self-esteem issues.
Now, if you want to attack Spears as a crumby singer exposed as entirely indebted to her producers, a lousy mother, a dolled-up plain Jane, or most importantly, a few IQ points distant from mental retardation, I will be nodding silently on the sidelines...
Not fat, but really soft. Much softer than she's been, and not in the sort of shape where that outfit is complementary, frankly. If she'd dressed differently, she still could have looked great.
ReplyDeleteI agree. She isn't the hardbody she once was, but she isn't fat. Trouble is, if she can't dance, she's gonna have to learn to sing.
ReplyDeleteThose who think Britney Spears is "fat" probably felt the same way about Supergirl in issue #20.
ReplyDeleteSpears should have followed the career path of Christina Aguilera and musically gone in a different, more sophisticated direction (this is assuming she has the musical ability to do so, which may be a leap of faith more than anything else; she obviously doesn't have the voice of Aguilera or Shakira). Britney can't recapture her 2000 self in 2007, just as Frank Sinatra learned about 1953 or so that to emulate his 1945 self was folly.
No, she's not fat, and it's pretty ridiculous to say so.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, when someone who has built an entire career and gotten rich off of her appearance/body, it seems fair to criticize her appearance/body. Criticizing her singing is what seems unfair to me in that light...
And, from what I've read, MTV tried very hard to persuade her to wear something less revealing, but she insisted on going out there in that outfit.
I could not believe that she was being referred to as "out of shape" and "chunky". I think she looked far more healthy than most people in show-biz.
ReplyDelete"Those who think Britney Spears is "fat" probably felt the same way about Supergirl in issue #20."
ReplyDeleteThat would be me!
:)
Not fat, but not in a flattering outfit, given her professional image.
ReplyDeleteThe performance itself made me think of one of those shows where they drag someone out of the audience and make them be part of the act, even though they're clearly uncomfortable.
First, I don't think this is any of our business. Her weight problems (real or not) are not a subject for public concern.
ReplyDeleteThat said, as we are (for some reason) involved in this subject, yes, she is overweight. By dictionary definition, she is fat. While the American average weight has crept disturbingly high, the point at which the fat a person carries is excessive has not changed.
The 'body images' propagated by society are unrealistic, but we shouldn't succumb to the temptation to soften reality that people might feel better about their weight. They're fat, regardless of whether we adjust our perceptions otherwise.
Contrary to popular belief, it's easy to lose and keep off weight (excepting medical conditions); permanently changing behavior is what's hard.
(I've personally been through this: 70+ pounds lost and kept off with little effort.)
Society's images are stupid and absurd, but people with a little extra weight are still overweight.
Wait, that's the "belly" people are talking about?
ReplyDeleteBah. That's not that fat.
I can't say much from a still, but really, for a young mother, that's pretty svelte. She looks soft in the arms, but she looks decent.
ReplyDeleteWhat? People are saying *that* is fat? That's the body of a healthy young woman. In so far as there should be an 'ideal' body type, it's not at all far from that... Have any of the people saying that ever actually *seen* a woman?
ReplyDelete>What? People are saying *that* is fat? That's the body of a healthy young woman. In so far as there should be an 'ideal' body type, it's not at all far from that... Have any of the people saying that ever actually *seen* a woman?<
ReplyDeleteVery few women (and men) in America are of a healthy weight. That her weight appears normal and to the low end of the American weight range does not alter that such an amount of (fat) weight (as opposed to muscle or structural weight) is unhealthy. That most of us are overweight shouldn't be allowed to conflate our surmise. Estimating from this one photograph, Ms. Spears would not be considered fit for military service, which has lower physical standards than one might expect.
I don't think discussion of celebrity weight should have anything to do with that of normal people. I'd never reject a woman of this size for being this size... she could add a lot more and be fine with me (assuming other factors were cool)(and not that this is a measure that any woman is dying to live up to, mind you).
ReplyDeleteThat said, celebrities are different, right? A part of why they become famous is because they look impossibly fantastic.
Do you want to read books by a writer who writes like normal people?
A guitarist who plays guitar like normal people?
A singer with a normal person's voice?
A part of celebrity is unbelievable exceptionality... and in our visual world, that's looks. Britney is fat for a star,
probably/likely fine for a gal on the street (no one has given me a body fat percentage reading, so who knows).
But we're not talking about a gal on the street are we? we're talking about star.
How come nobody's talking about what a whiny emo bitch the YouTuber is? Geez, grow a pair, why don't you, and wipe the mascara off.
ReplyDeleteThere's no way that can be real, anyway. No sane person likes her like that.