Britney Spears, Miss American Dream, has been in the spotlight since she was a teenager. But, throughout her three-decade career in the music industry, the “Toxic” singer has had a very toxic relationship with the media.
Britney Spears started her career in revival The Micky Mouse Show in the early 90s, and later went on to breaking ever record with her debut album, Baby One More Time. It went on to become the biggest-selling album by a teenager in late 90s.
Needless to say, she quickly became not only America’s favorite, but the entire world’s. But alongside fame, there are also disadvantages. And, since the beginning, the media felt like Britney Spears belonged to them.
Let’s go back to her April 1999 cover of Rolling Stone. There, a sweet, young Britney posed on a bed, wearing an open top revealing her bra. Which offended a lot of people, but especially the American Family Association (AFA), which described the shoot as a “a disturbing mix of childhood innocence and adult sexuality” and called on “God-loving Americans to boycott stores selling Britney’s albums.”
She publicly addressed the controversy, saying “What’s the big deal? I have strong morals. … I’d do it again. I thought the pictures were fine. And I was tired of being compared to Debbie Gibson and all of this bubblegum pop all the time.“
Be it gross questions about her virginity, breasts, or public image, her relationship with the media has always been toxic. Which is why it also became a leitmotiv in several songs released throughout her career, including “Piece of Me,” “My Prerogative,” “Overprotected,” and more.
But it was the media’s fixture on Spears that pushed her over the edge in 2007. She could not walk around without having the paparazzi follow her everywhere, and would not get any type of privacy. After her very public mental breakdown, the media ate her up.
And it hasn’t stopped since. But what makes it okay for every publication to publicly shame Spears?
Britney Spears’ life hasn’t been easy. While from afar, becoming Miss American Dream and everyone’s teen idol seems ideal, it surely took a toll on her. She was conditioned to look a certain way, think a certain way, and act a certain way. Which hasn’t stopped to this day.
After being in a conservatorship for over 13 years following her head-shaving incidents and several in-and-outs to rehab, Spears finally managed to be finally free in late 2021.
Which prompted her to live life the way she wanted to. She started using Instagram religiously, where she is very open with her fans, sharing intimate details of the conservatorship, or even nude pictures.
Her openness divided the world yet again, because God forbit we see a strong, empowering woman who is confident in her own skin at 40. The media’s reaction was included questions like “Is Britney Spears Ok” and deep-dives into her allegedly poor mental health. But she was just free to do whatever she wanted, in her own terms. And that annoyed a lot of people.
With countless of Instagram models making thousands of dollars monthly on OnlyFans, I’d say the nudity is not the issue. Nor the fact that she is a mother. Hell, the Kardashians has been posing nude for years and the media has only praise for them.
Not long ago, Spears announced her third pregnancy, which would be her first with fiancé Sam Asghari. The two were over the moon, especially Spears, who has been very open about wanting another child. A girl, since she already has two boys, Sean Preston and Jayden James.
But the media isn’t the only one constantly judging Spears. After she announced her pregnancy, she told everyone she would be trying her best to stay away from the paparazzi and do this on her own terms.
Unfortunately, Britney announced on social media that she lost her “miracle baby.” Which proceeded into a wave of cruel comments from people all around the internet. Some of them were blaming her for posing nude, for sharing her life with her fans, for getting pregnant in the first place, for her “declining” mental health and more.
But are these people genuinely interested in Britney’s well-being? My honest answer is no, and every comment regarding her nude pictures, her dancing in her living room, or her just being herself is deeply misogynistic from people who don’t give a damn for her (or her kids’) well-being.
From the beginning, Britney Spears has paved the way for other women in the industry. Hopefully, in the future, she will stop being the media’s punchbag and recognize there is a lot of power in her openness on social media.
Until then, real fans will continue to support Britney in any way she feels like expressing herself. And can we stop asking Britney is she’s okay?
