Posted on Nov 11, 2023
What Britney Spears' book taught me about resilience and self love
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https://www.npr.org/2023/11/11/ [login to see] /britney-spears-book
"It became hard for me to talk about Britney Spears around the time the #FreeBritney movement started. The mega-superstar's life — synonymous with fame, always under bad faith criticism — seemed to be hitting another peak. Her conservatorship of 13 years was ending, and her newfound freedom from her abusers became another aspect of her life for people to pick apart. But I've been following her life just as I've lived my own. I'm a Britney fan forever, finding her at some of my happiest times, and at some of the worst.
The release of her memoir this year, The Woman in Me, means she gets to reclaim her story after it has been told for her for too long. She writes in her book that fans share a connection with her, and I've never been able to comfortably talk about her until I finished it. My relationship goes deeper than the average reader of the eye-roll-worthy headlines the media has plagued her with. Many gay men have a popstar intrinsically tied to their identity — mine will always be Britney Spear".
"It became hard for me to talk about Britney Spears around the time the #FreeBritney movement started. The mega-superstar's life — synonymous with fame, always under bad faith criticism — seemed to be hitting another peak. Her conservatorship of 13 years was ending, and her newfound freedom from her abusers became another aspect of her life for people to pick apart. But I've been following her life just as I've lived my own. I'm a Britney fan forever, finding her at some of my happiest times, and at some of the worst.
The release of her memoir this year, The Woman in Me, means she gets to reclaim her story after it has been told for her for too long. She writes in her book that fans share a connection with her, and I've never been able to comfortably talk about her until I finished it. My relationship goes deeper than the average reader of the eye-roll-worthy headlines the media has plagued her with. Many gay men have a popstar intrinsically tied to their identity — mine will always be Britney Spear".
What Britney Spears' book taught me about resilience and self love
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Posted 6 mo ago
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Child celebrities have long been victims of adults who have their own interests at heart, not the childs. Thanks for sharing
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Brave New Girl
It took me a while to say with my chest that I'm an artist. Mainly because the times I've fully felt like it have been so few and far between. The earliest when I was a child, using my imagination to draw and get crafty. That artist also showed up my senior year of college. I had just come off a summer internship in NYC, which had some of my best memories of finding my independence. Inspired and excited, I worked my ass off that year in school, enjoying my friendships and honoring my childhood with work that helped be at peace with things I was previously ashamed of. I even did a fun little art show, curating work from my peers with pop music as a soundtrack. One of my roommates and I designed and typeset a 3d print of Britney's most iconic lyric, "It's Britney, Bitch."
I wasn't prepared for The Woman in Me to move me the way it did. Once you take your art to the workplace, it's so easy to lose sight of the reasons you liked it to begin with. Constant talks about career goals combined with how other professionals may perceive you through your art and presentation became exhausting. They don't prepare you for burnout and for a while the self expectations sent me into that isolation I'd experienced before. An ongoing battle, Britney's fight for herself in her words has given me a much needed boost to continue self discovery in my creative life. She asks at one point "How do you cling to hope?" When I think about my identity, I remember always feeling othered from the start. Continuing to explore my own story with pride is how I move forward. In her efforts to rebuild her life from the heaviest times, I do too.
Toward the end of the book, Britney speaks to the gay community and fans alike, "For me, it's all about love—unconditional love." It's the same for us in return, being seen and more importantly heard. The effects of parasocial relationships are not lost on me, but when I think about the connection to Britney and her journey, I'm able to see a path of my own — anticipating."
..."Brave New Girl
It took me a while to say with my chest that I'm an artist. Mainly because the times I've fully felt like it have been so few and far between. The earliest when I was a child, using my imagination to draw and get crafty. That artist also showed up my senior year of college. I had just come off a summer internship in NYC, which had some of my best memories of finding my independence. Inspired and excited, I worked my ass off that year in school, enjoying my friendships and honoring my childhood with work that helped be at peace with things I was previously ashamed of. I even did a fun little art show, curating work from my peers with pop music as a soundtrack. One of my roommates and I designed and typeset a 3d print of Britney's most iconic lyric, "It's Britney, Bitch."
I wasn't prepared for The Woman in Me to move me the way it did. Once you take your art to the workplace, it's so easy to lose sight of the reasons you liked it to begin with. Constant talks about career goals combined with how other professionals may perceive you through your art and presentation became exhausting. They don't prepare you for burnout and for a while the self expectations sent me into that isolation I'd experienced before. An ongoing battle, Britney's fight for herself in her words has given me a much needed boost to continue self discovery in my creative life. She asks at one point "How do you cling to hope?" When I think about my identity, I remember always feeling othered from the start. Continuing to explore my own story with pride is how I move forward. In her efforts to rebuild her life from the heaviest times, I do too.
Toward the end of the book, Britney speaks to the gay community and fans alike, "For me, it's all about love—unconditional love." It's the same for us in return, being seen and more importantly heard. The effects of parasocial relationships are not lost on me, but when I think about the connection to Britney and her journey, I'm able to see a path of my own — anticipating."
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