艾瑞莎·弗兰克林

Aretha Franklin

艾瑞莎·弗兰克林

All the stars want to be slim, but American queen of soul Aretha Franklin is different. Miss Franklin couldn’t be happier, she says, I’m proud to be a Big Woman.

明星们都希望能拥有美好苗条的身形，然而美国灵魂歌后艾瑞莎·弗兰克林却与众不同。她不但一点也不为自己胖胖的体形发愁，而且她说很乐意做个胖女人。

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

1967年，当艾瑞莎·弗兰克林首次唱响《尊重》这支成名曲时，她还是个身材苗条的年轻女子。然而，差 不多40年过去了，她现在的身材已和从前大不一样。

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

当身穿低胸长裙，头戴金色假发的弗兰克林出现在华盛顿一个庆祝宴会上时，人们看到的是一个体形肥硕的灵魂歌后。然而，这可能是弗兰克林最开心的时刻。她第一次公开表示，真实的艾瑞莎就在舞台上——她是个贪恋食物的“胖女人”。

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

63岁的弗兰克林透露称，为了保持苗条动人的身材，她一直忍饥挨饿几十年。

“For a long time I suffered so much trying to be what other people expected me to be and look like.”

“很长一段时间里，我为了变成别人所期望的样子遭受了很多痛苦。”

“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...”

“我绝没打算像天桥上的模特那样轻盈漫步，我就是要唱出自己内心和灵魂所感的艾瑞莎。现在，人们似乎已经明白了…”

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

而那天前来参加美国黑人广播学会庆祝宴会的观众显然对弗兰克林感到非常满意，他们对她报以长时间的热烈掌声。