Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Nainen minussa by Britney Spears

22 reviews

david_slack110507's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

3.75

It feels weird to give this a rating considering that this is actually based off of Britney's life in the same way that it was weird to give a rating to I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, but I feel like while this memoir from one of pop's most influential figures did have the insight that was promised, it wasn't the best structured which is what brought it down for me. 

Before reading this, I had previously known very little about Britney's life other than being one of the most successful artists in the past few decades as well as being in an abusive conservatorship that was eventually exposed to the mass media through the #FreeBritney movement (which Britney acknowledges in this book as being one of the things that kept her going in the fight for full control over her life) so this memoir was very insightful into the tumultuous life of Spears and how it all started from a very young age. Ranging from her family life being unsafe and toxic to using music, dancing, and acting to escape that home life only for those escapes to be poisoned with issues too. 

The early and later years in Spears' music career and spotlight in the media really showed how cruel the media can be to those in the spotlight and how this can take various methods from asking deeply personal questions, to sexualising Britney, to harassing her when she was obviously not in the mental space and state to actually deal with everything and much more. Memoirs in particular are very good at exposing how much the media got away with (and continues to do so in some instances) in their treatment of celebrities, particularly women and other minorities, in the earlier years of modern media and I hope that like many other memoirs that spotlight and criticise these issues, Britney's story will help lessen the likelihood for more stories like hers for future stars. 

My main issue with this memoir is how it was structured, some parts felt fully explained and in detail while others were less detailed and so there was often a sporadic movement between years that threw me off slightly and made me a little confused as to when a certain event was happening or what family member Spears was referring to due to having only mentioned them at the beginning of the book or a brief description in the midst of a big and important event in her life. 

Overall, I'm so glad that Britney is free of her conservatorship and can actually live her life rather than having her life dictated for her like how it was for so long and I wish her all the best when it comes to rebuilding herself slowly from the insurmountable damage caused by her family's control over her. This was such an important story to tell and one that deserved to be told and so I'm glad that Britney finally felt ready to share her story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Sexism, Abortion, Grief, and Mental illness

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Confinement, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Bullying

Minor: Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Drug use, Addiction, and Adult/minor relationship

dianaschmidty's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

5.0

#FreeBritney 
This poor girl. After reading this, I hate parts of our legal system even more than I already did!

Also, if you love pop culture, especially the music industry in the early 2000s, you’ll be as fascinated by the first half of the book as I was!

This book is just proof that most men suck. Especially rich ones.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Abortion, Body shaming, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Confinement, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, and Torture

Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Medical trauma, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Medical content

shannonvonpesach's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

4.5

I always felt so bad for Britney, really happy she's out and living her life the fullest!

The book was a good read, but sometimes it felt like telling facts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Bullying, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Grief, and Stalking

Minor: Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts

imstephtacular's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Abandonment, Pregnancy, Cursing, Grief, Infidelity, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Mental illness

Minor: Sexual harassment, Miscarriage, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Infertility, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Car accident

verito2805's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexism, Abortion, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, and Body shaming

reallyitsrudi's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

4.5

this just gives a lot more context to how Britney became the woman she is, the good, bad, and ugly. I'm just amazed that she's still here and still standing, given everything she's experienced. wish I could hug her fr

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Abortion, Medical trauma, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Miscarriage

jneverland's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Slavery, Abandonment, Body shaming, Medical content, Sexism, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

mdwsn27's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Abortion, Toxic relationship, Slavery, Pregnancy, Sexism, Infidelity, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Grief, and Body shaming

thanhnguyen99's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Abortion

Moderate: Abandonment and Sexual harassment

asourceoffiction's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

"At what point did I promise to stay 17 for the rest of my life?"

A stark reminder of how easy it is to judge somebody based on what the media choose to show us, and how dangerous that can be.

What is fascinating about this book is the stories we all think we know, but told from a perspective just different enough to make for quite uncomfortable reading. They really highlight just how mistreated Britney has been by the media and her family for the last 20 years. It also shines a light on how we perceive and judge women's behaviour, compared to that of men (who, in this case, clearly behaved worse).

I was expecting to struggle with the audio not carrying the same emotion read by someone else, but I needn't have worried; Michelle Williams is an incredibly sensitive voice who gives a lot of power to Britney's words. And it doesn't surprise me that it was still too raw for her to read it herself. There's so much emotion poured into this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, and Body shaming