Britney Spears has just released her memoir titled, “The Woman in Me”, and after its first week of release, she has sold a total of 1.1 million copies across the US. Her book consists of in-depth depictions that go from her stardom as a teen to the conservatorship that overtook her adulthood, giving her fans a true insight to into her very hectic, not-so-glamorous life.
Spears starts the story off from the beginning in her country hometown, Kentwood, Louisiana. She compares her life in her old house to a zoo because of her “reckless, cold, and mean” father who frequently picked long fights with her mother during all hours of the day and night. Her family was very poor, but her father did well enough that they could occasionally hire help from time to time. Spears heart was opened to music the first time she overheard her housekeeper singing gospel, she recalls it as, “an awakening to a whole new world.” Soon, singing became her life, and then it became her fame.
She reflects on when her hit debut single “…Baby One More Time” released, recalling it as “the moment in [her] life when [she] had the most passion for music.”, because both the song and the music video consisted of many of her ideas. Spears also gushes over her former love, Justin Timberlake, going on about how she was “so in love with him it was pathetic”. This book provided a completely new insight into the 1999 relationship, shining a negative light on the already tainted image of Timberlake and his treatment of his past girlfriends. She writes that he lied, cheated, bragged, and even broke up with her over text while she was at work.
However, his greatest offense is the humiliating release of his hit “Cry Me a River”, a few months after the breakup. The song and music video depicts a sad, heartbroken Justin wondering in the pouring rain with a Brittney lookalike on the prowl. His twist on the story of their breakup is the one that was accepted by the public, resulting in a wave of negative media backlash towards Spears.
The second half of the memoir reflects on the events leading up to her conservatorship and its aftermath. The conservatorship that was inflicted onto her by her father gave him license to formalize his ownership, down to controlling Spears’ diet. She was no longer allowed to give any input towards her music and performances, undermining her artistic standing for years. She writes, “Three months into my confinement, I started to believe that my little heart, whatever made me Britney, was no longer inside my body anymore.” This line is one of the most heartbreaking in the memoir; it’s a line that truly reveals how quickly she had herself taken from her.
Thankfully, towards the end of the book, Spears writes on her newfound freedom and rebirth. She has been able to find her voice again to publicly speak out against her father’s conservatorship while living a seemingly happy life with her two sons. At age 41, Britney Spears is beginning the life that was stolen from her, the life she has been longing for since she was 16.
