The Woman in Britney

I recently had a transatlantic flight to board and we all know what that means: the perfect scenario in which to read Britney’s new memoir, The Woman in Me. 

Reading Britney’s The Woman in Me since they didn’t have Cosmo magazine at the airport

I read it all in one sitting (and you can, too!) as the prose isn’t at all dense or charged with subtext, but may I also point out how sad and frustrating a read it was? Just because of what she’s been through. You’d think we, as a society, are well past the times when it was acceptable to rob a woman of her agency, but I guess not…

This book is very upfront, pretty much exactly what I’d expected it to be. Readable pages full of white spaces and gossip. These fluffy pages become increasingly frustrating as Britney is stripped of all autonomy and joy for life throughout the book. I wonder at the ghostwriter’s task here, since I can’t imagine Britney’s own narrative style being that easy to organize into something cohesive and breezy. That’s what the book is, though. Linear, simple. 

I put some Russian dolls there because of the book title. Get it?? Isn’t that just so cute?

Of course I pulled some cards about it! I used the Britney Oracle (like I even had a choice) to sum up the book and we got “The Snake Charmer”. What I see is dissonance. Sure, the snake moment was iconic, but also dangerous! It shows how no one cared enough to protect the real living beings from going to extremes just because it looked cool. 

And I might be reading too much into this, but the snake moment as described in the book seemed to me to reveal a bit of internalized misogyny on Britney’s end, a total misunderstanding of how women can be powerful and in control no matter what they look like: 

“The first time I saw the snake was when they brought it to a little back room of the Metropolitan Opera House in Manhattan, where we would be doing the show. The girl who handed it over was even smaller than me—she looked so young and she was very tiny, with blond hair. I couldn’t believe they didn’t have some big guy in charge—I remember thinking You’re letting us two little munchkins handle this huge snake…?” 

The Snake Charmer

She did it, all of it, but she was never really in control because she couldn’t imagine herself being in control. She thought only “some big guy” could hold the power to charm that snake. That’s one of the big factors in the undoing of Britney Spears, if you ask me. 

I also threw some cards on the table asking what’s next for her? We got the Hermit, the Emperor, and the ten of batons. 

From the one and only Zaara Kittenchops’ Pipspeak Tarot. Click here to get yours!

I believe her when she says she’s done with the music industry. That Hermit card often makes me think of Diogenes, the Greek philosopher who’d wander around Athens in broad daylight carrying a lantern saying he was searching for an honest man. I don’t think he ever found one.

Paired with that Emperor card, I believe our Brit is on a similar quest. She doesn’t care to try and reignite her former glory, that’s just a heavy load as far as she’s concerned. I think she just wants to find herself a man she can call her own. 

I wish her the best… but I also wish someone could show her that being on your own doesn’t mean anything is missing. Sometimes it’s the only way to be whole. 

And here’s an airplane bathroom selfie I took after finishing the book, so you know what I look like. Thanks for reading this far, let’s do this again soon! <3