It’s book review Monday again. I read Britney Spears’s best selling memoir The Woman in Me recently. It was a heartbreaking story. Growing up in the south, she had a fine relationship with her mother but her father was an absent alcoholic. She became an icon before she turned 18 when her debut studio album, ...Baby One More Time, was released in 1999. Money and fame came crashing on her and she was still so young she couldn’t handle the paparazzis and the people who took advantage of her. She gave birth to two children back-to-back in 2005 and 2006 and got divorced in 2007. The paparazzis taunted her constantly and in the meanwhile she had a very demanding work schedule. She had severe postpartum depression. I am old enough to witness her very public mental breakdowns in the media back in the day. It was wild. But then, her alcoholic father took advantage of her situation and put her under conservatorship for 13 years while the rest of her family quietly went along with it. During those 13 years, she basically lost her personal freedom and was forced to work on a very grueling schedule. Her father told her she was too fat so she was only allowed to eat chicken and vegetables for a while. No ice creams, no steaks, no nothing. That level of control is insane for a 30-year old grown woman. When she refused to continue on her grueling work schedule due to exhaustion, she was sent to a mental facility for four months and was first basically put into solitary confinement for two months. She was also forced to be put on lithium. It was incredibly cruel. Fortunately her absence in public alerted her fans and a movement was started to save Britney. Eventually, she was able to advocate for herself and got out of the conservatorship and now she can finally tell us her side of the story.
The 13-year conservatorship was messed up. We all know Britney is kind of wild and she is no saint but she didn’t deserve the prolonged conservatorship. In her court recording shown above, she said she was human trafficked and she is traumatized. She doesn’t sound like an incapacitated woman in the recording at all!! Plus, she was able to publish new music albums and performed in hundreds of concerts during those thirteen years. How was she able to do that if she was supposed to be incapacitated?
Even more messed up than the conservatorship is her family. Her family basically treated her like an object, a cash cow to be precise. It's so unbelievably cruel. I am so glad Britney regained her freedom and is finally able to live life on her own terms. Though it's still devastating that the time she lost is gone forever. Her precious late twenties and thirties was wasted on the conservatorship. It's maddening.
It’s depressing that Britney has all the fame and money but she didn’t seem to have friends or family who would support her when she was vulnerable. Her exes took advantage of her money and fame. Her family took control of her identity and acted like she was a financial asset they owned. Paparazzis constantly taunted her for money shots. Britney Spears is an American icon, a legend. We thought she would be happy but what she went through sounded like a nightmare. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. No amount of money or fame would make what Britney went through worth it.