Rate: 4 /5
Medium: Audiobook
Overview (Spoilers Abound):
Britney Spears, Nsync, and the Backstreet Boys are among the musical pillars of my childhood. One of my favorite concerts happens to be a very young Britney at my local fair the summer she became a household name. Throughout the years, I’ve casually kept up on the tumultuous headlines that have plagued Britney and recently, out of nostalgia I watched her documentaries as the social media buzz worked up to a fervor. It was in these documentaries where I was introduced to how the actions likely unfolded from Britney’s perspective. Seriously, it was awful how the relentlessly the paparazzi hounded Britney, especially when she had her babies with her. This kind of invasive harassment is unacceptable and all in search of one photo or one skewed image that can be used to write whatever story would bring top dollar. The most damning quote that stands out from one of the documentaries was from the paparazzi photographer who provoked Britney until she attacked his car with an umbrella. His quote was something along the lines of, “It was a bad day for her and a great day for us”. Under that kind of pressure, who wouldn’t have cracked? In hindsight, I viewed these stories of Britney’s breakdown with a lack of empathy that has evolved after having had children of my own.
Post the dissolution of her conservatorship, I joined the masses in watching Britney dance, dance, and dance some more on Instagram. When I heard that Britney had written a memoir, I was curious, but it was the early previews of Michelle William’s narration that convinced me I had to add The Woman in Me to my TBR. Still, I didn’t have a lot of expectations going into this read, though I was confident that Britney would likely smear many of the people who she had viewed as wronged her. Instead, Britney told her story in a level and straightforward manner. There wasn’t a lot of depth to the stories or surprising revelations beyond what I’d watched in the documentaries. With writing The Woman in Me, Britney focused on the cliffnotes of her life, finally giving voice to what happened from her perspective, instead of letting her narrative be defined by family or friends. I found myself outraged over and over again for how Britney was treated. Had she been a male there’s no way she would have been locked in a conservatorship. Justin callously framed Britney in a negative light post breakup to springboard his own solo album. This memoir should most definitely make him uncomfortable. I will personally have a hard time viewing Justin in the same positive light I had previously.
My biggest take away from The Woman in Me is how far we have come from my childhood in recognizing and talking about mental illness. We have failed Britney and are lucky she is still here. Postpartum depression and social anxiety are real and tragic illnesses. I will forever be grateful for my honest and transparent friends who discussed their own experiences with postpartum depression while I was expecting, normalizing a topic that historically has been ignored or associated with shame. Britney will most definitely need time to heal and I was thoroughly drawn into her tragic story. The Woman in Me is her platform for finally being able to tell her side of the headlines. I can’t wait to find out what other stories she has waiting in the wings. Keep dancing Britney!
The Critiquing Chemist 