Parody account criticizing Aretha Franklin’s ‘Natural Woman’ sparks confusion

Are transgender activists lobbying music streaming platforms to remove Aretha Franklin’s famous song "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" on grounds it’s offensive to trans women?
No, but one tweet and a Daily Mail headline shared across social media has created that confusion.

 One Instagram post shared a screenshot of a Jan. 23 Daily Mail headline — "Now Aretha Franklin’s song Natural Woman is deemed OFFENSIVE to trans women: Outrage as ‘activists’ demand song is removed from Spotify and Apple Music." The post asked, "is everyone ready to admit these people are totally nuts?" 

The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

The Daily Mail has since updated its headline. 

It now reads, "One big joke: ‘Activists’ who called Aretha Franklin’s Natural Woman ‘offensive to trans women’ now claim it WAS ‘satire’ saying ‘It’s simply a commentary on the state of the ‘woke’ movement in general." 

Here’s what happened.

On Jan. 20, a Twitter account called TCMA: Trans Cultural Mindfulness Alliance, tweeted: "Aretha Franklin’s 1968 song ‘Natural Woman’ perpetuates multiple harmful anti-trans stereotypes. There is no such thing as a ‘natural’ woman. This song has helped inspire acts of harm against transgender women. TCMS is requesting it is removed from Spotify & Apple Music." 

On Jan. 21, the account responded to someone asking if it was a "parody account" by saying "most certainly not," but as of Jan. 25, the account’s bio had been updated to say "If you think it’s parody it is." 

Subsequent tweets reinforce this. 

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Responding to someone who said, "You got me….sadly I have seen plenty of tweets that are as ludicrous as this that aren’t satire!!" the account wrote: "That’s exactly right. The woke movement is indistinguishable from parody." 

On Jan. 24 it tweeted: "Putting pineapple on pizza is transphobic and racist." 

A Jan. 23 blog post on iHeartradio.ca said the account responded to the platform in a direct message and said "this is a parody account" and "never imagined anyone would take it seriously lol."

Franklin’s performance of "(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman" was released as a single 1967 and quickly rose up the charts. Written by Carol King and Gerry Goffin, it became an undisputed hit song, appearing again on the U.K. charts after Franklin died in 2018. It has been covered by numerous performers.  

We rate claims that transgender activists are trying to get Aretha Franklin’s song removed from music streaming sites False.