Reading “The Woman in Me” by Britney Spears provided details for the public to gain a deeper understanding of her past, present and her true identity.
Spears, the pop princess of the late 90s and early 2000s, rose to stardom at a very early age and experienced the dark side of the entertainment and music industry.
Since the beginning of her career, she was sexualized by the public and harassed by paparazzi.
The book begins by talking about her family and their history. Spears talks about her family trauma and gives us more of an understanding of their background.
She shares that unfortunate events that caused the death of her grandmother shaped her father into someone who was “mean, apathetic, and cold,” and who struggled with drinking.
Spears began waiting tables at the age of nine, while her mother was helping her get into show business around that time. She explained how she was never able to live like a “normal kid” between rehearsals and school.
The artist goes on to describe her tumultuous love life.
Spears talks about Justin Timberlake, her first public boyfriend, and their press producing relationship. The beginning of her downward spiral began when Timberlake cheated on her
After their break up, he came out with an explosive album about the highs and lows of the relationship. People instantly began to side with him and his career grew.
Spears, on the other hand, was bashed by the public for crushing his heart.
Long after, Spears met Kevin Federline, whom she eventually marries and has children with. After having her first child, she fell into postpartum depression and suffered privately, despite media attention.
After divorcing Federline a few years later, she entered a drawn-out custody battle that floated around the news channels.
Eventually, after numerous breakdowns that followed the custody battle, her family deemed Spears not to be in the right state of mind to control her finances.
Her father, James, placed a conservatorship on her for about 13 years, until 2021. However, not only were her finances being controlled by her father, but her life was too.
It’s unfortunate she was perceived to be a mentally unstable person when most of the damage being done to her was caused by the media. Over time, people have realized that the media can be very brutal. I think Spears’ experience can be a lesson learned, especially now that mental health has become more acknowledged.
To Spears, everything was taken from her life for many years. “I felt like I was being deprived of those good secrets of life,” Spears said. “Those fundamental supposed sins of indulgence that make us human.”
It’s sad to see how the people she needed most were the ones who failed her.
People’s lives should not be seen as another’s entertainment. If the media had covered rules and boundaries at that time, her situation would not have spiraled the way it did.
Spears fought for so long, and recently she said, “I finally feel free.”
