It’s no under-reported fact that Britney Spears's body has been relentlessly analysed and critiqued since the start of her career. And since her conservatorship was lifted last November, Britney has been using Instagram to tell her side of the story about the oppression and ridicule she faced.
But everyone has been left slightly surprised by one of her most recent posts: a rainbow graphic of the wildly problematic and totally dated quote, apparently from the comic Rodney Dangerfield: ‘I found there was only one way to look thin: hang out with fat people.’
Doubling down on the theory, Britney wrote in her caption: ‘I wish I could have chosen the nannies for my children … my dancers … I mean if I had Christina Aguilera’s dancers I would have looked extremely small … I mean why not talk about it??
‘Don’t you think my confidence would have been a bit better if I could choose where I lived, ate, whom I called on the phone, dated and who was on stage with me,’ she continued. ‘It’s hard sometimes now I see how much of my womanhood was stripped away at that time and every person sat back and didn’t say a thing !!!
‘Anyways … I will be here talking bout things people NEVER talked about!!!,' she wrote, referencing the almost 14-year-long conservatorship that saw her performing at headline shows without any control of their content or creative concept.
Obviously, Britney’s loss of independence was wrong and no doubt traumatic. Yet, many have pointed out that body shaming other people, specifically Christina Aguilera’s dancers, isn’t the way Britney should go about processing her ordeal. ‘We’re not going to do is slate other women whilst trying to boost our own self confidence. This is not it,’ read one comment. ‘Please don’t body shame a whole community who have supported you,’ added another.
Christina has now unfollowed Britney on Instagram since she posted the caption, according to Page Six. Christina is yet to make any comment about the post on her own social media but has previously spoken about how micro-management of her own body impacted her career. So, it’s understandable why she may not want to engage in the conversation.
‘I had gained about 15 pounds during promotion and during my Stripped tour,’ Christina previously told Billboard of industry expectations. ‘They called this serious emergency meeting about how there was a lot of backlash about my weight. Basically, they told me I would affect a lot of people if I gained weight - the production, musical directors.
‘I told them during this Lotus recording, "You are working with a fat girl. Know it now and get over it." They need a reminder sometimes that I don't belong to them. It's my body… My body can't put anyone in jeopardy of not making money anymore—my body is just not on the table that way anymore.’
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