Today’s review is about THE WOMAN IN ME by Britney Spears. Like Patrick Stewart’s memoir, I again reviewed this one in a more reactive and casual tone. I’m glad Britney found her voice and published her life as she experienced it. It’s amazing she pulled through 13 years of near-militant control by her father over her life and body.

Author: Britney Spears
Series: None
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publish Date: October 24, 2023
Print Length: 288

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Official Synopsis

The Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope.

In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice–her truth–was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey–and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history.

Written with remarkable candor and humor, Spears’s groundbreaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love–and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.

My Review

I picked up THE WOMAN IN ME more out of moderate curiosity about a millennial pop icon than anything else. I had not followed the whole conservatorship saga at all, nor the tabloid fodder prior to that. So I more or less went into this memoir knowing very little about Britney’s personal life.

THE WOMAN IN ME naturally begins where Britney spent her childhood. She did not have the most nurturing nuclear family home life, but she found joy and creativity in many avenues nonetheless. Britney shares how she rose to stardom and her feelings about dating Justin Timberlake. SPOILER: I’m sure by now most of you have heard about the at-home abortion Britney had because Justin didn’t want to be a father yet. Their break up unfortunately seemed to be the catalyst of Britney’s inner turmoil. Given how reliant her family was on her and how naive she was, her spiral was, sadly, likely bound to happen sooner or later.

This spiral, no doubt needlessly hyped and exaggerated by the media, seems a result of a lot of different factors. Britney repeatedly talks about how naive and stupid she was to trust people so openly. Then there is generational family trauma from domestic abuse on her father’s side and poor coping skills from her mother. (I won’t even try to unpack her mother’s actions, or lack thereof.) Additionally, Britney supported her family from a young age because they were poor and felt all of the pressure from that, not to mention she seems naturally generous. Then throw in human greed and it’s a right mess perfect for controlling Britney’s life.

All I can do as a reader is take this memoir at face value. I don’t know anything except what she wrote or I saw briefly in the news. Suffice it to say, though, her family’s treatment of her was abhorrent. I had no idea how controlling the conservatorship was. Her father controlled her diet, bugged her house, and even received reports about when she used the bathroom. Furthermore, her father sent her to rehab several times for ridiculous reasons. He also put her in a mental facility because she said “no” to a new dance move. It is amazing that she survived 13 years of that kind of treatment.

Her social media posts always seemed a bit odd to me. After reading about her terrible experiences, though, I can totally understand why she seeks joy now in the little things. She does what makes her happy because she has control over her life and body now. Her family infantilized her for so long that she is more than happy to fully be her own woman. Honestly, I feel what she really needed at the time was distance from her family and an excellent therapist, not a conservatorship.

She also reflects about the double standards the industry has with respect to men and women. While society deems it fine for men to sleep around, now-grown female child stars must maintain the image of a perpetual virgin. I don’t think today’s society is that much different than it was 20 years ago with respect to that topic. I think women have just learned to push back more against those constraints. She also talks about how mental health was a more stigmatized at her popularity height, though society discusses it more openly now. The more I think about it the more I’m glad I read what she had to say.

THE WOMAN IN ME is a must-read for diehard Britney fans. But it’s also a reflective memoir from someone who fought for control of their own life. It’s easy to read in the stylistic sense, but it relives some hard life topics.

Rating: 4
Content warnings: domestic abuse, drug use (minor), infidelity
Reading format: Library hardback