The Pensacola Hippie at age 45-- halfway to age 90. Healthy, happy, confident. Found her "voice" due to her spouse, her parents & amazing Pensacola faith & activism communities. Owning all of herself & blessed beyond measure. Photo by Brian. Regarding the drama surrounding Britney Spears' case to win back her independence from her appointed " guardian", I have a confession to make. I've never been a Britney fan. As a matter of fact, I scoffed at her " baby" and " schoolgirl" personas: wishing that she would not capitalize on the twisted, patriarchal ideas of what it means to be a young woman. I found myself drawn to Ani Difranco's sultry lower voice and politically-charged original lyrics rather than Britney's canned and bouncy " pop songs".
However, knowing what has come to the surface regarding the pop star and her messed-up legal arrangement with her father, I have compassion for Ms Spears. Women are so often kept submissive, and " cheapened" in the name of money and appeasing the patriarchy. While { Thank God} most of us do not have fathers such as Jamie Spears-- society tells women and men that " good girls" remain soft, silent & submissive.
In spite of the fact that I have wonderful parents who let me take the lead as a writer, artist, photographer & activist--- the toxic femininity that trapped Britney Spears & held her career hostage grazed my life.
Ani Difranco says it so well in her song _Not A Pretty Girl_ Check it out:
"I am not a pretty girl
That is not what I doI ain't no damsel in distressAnd I don't need to be rescuedifrancoSo put me down, punkWouldn't you prefer a maiden fair?Isn't there a kitten stuck up a tree somewhere?"
Difranco knew from an early age what she wanted to do-- and the sorts of songs she wished to write and perform According to her autobiography _No Walls & the Recurring Dream_ Difranco did her best to avoid the trappings of mainstream music.
In her book, she explains the choice she made to shave her head at the beginning of her career. Difranco writes " My decision as a young woman to shave off all my hair and wear army boots as footwear was an insistence that the objectifying of women in the people's revolution shall stop with me. {DiFranco , page 77}
Unlike Spears, Ms Difranco set the tone for her creative life immediately.
In retrospect, it was not only Spears' sound that made me want to stuff my ears with cotton, it was also her persona. For me, they way she presented herself onstage & in public infuriated my feminist sensibilities. Now I know that it was not her choice, her " creativity" was stuffed into an ill-fitting box of toxic femininity. Perhaps Spears' shaving of her hair was not due to a mental breakdown-- perhaps it was a statement.
Britney Spears, like all of us, wants to be seen as a person. Her fame came at a high price , & my heart aches for her. Her fame came at a tender age, and she was turned into a commodity before she had a chance to explore life away from Mom and Dad. She lacks that young adult phase that many of us enjoy where we figure out who we are and what our values will be as adults.
For Britney Spears-- her entire existence was a show. I am shocked and saddened to learn that Spears was prohibited from singing in her natural alto range. Her handlers literally controlled her voice. As someone who has sang in choirs-- I cannot imagine the amount of damage that vocal abuse has done to her throat. I am a mezzo-soprano-- and singing out of my range stresses my vocal cords, so I cannot imagine the discomfort and physical stress she felt.
Free Britney.
We all have a right to self-determination.
Sarah McCarren
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