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A review by david_slack110507
The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic