Bayou Pages | “The Woman in Me” by Britney Spears

REVIEW BY MEREDITH MCKINNIE

“There is so much freedom in being anonymous.”

When Britney Spears’ first album Baby One More Time dropped in 1999, her face and song by the same name were everywhere. She dominated the radio, MTV, and Total Request Live, the daily video show of top songs in the country. Everyone has seen the video with Britney in the school girl uniform with pigtails and excessive self-tanner. I remember her muscled, cut frame, and how she defied the expectation of girls being unathletic or quiet. Her voice sounded average, but her presence and persona radiated through the screen. I remained aware of her over the years, including her demise in the media. Though I’ve never considered myself a Britney Spears fan, I longed to indulge her memoir, to hear from her directly, as she has been essentially in hiding for the last decade due to a court-ordered conservatorship until the digital frenzy of the #FreeBritney Movement in 2020.   

Britney’s memoir opens with reflections on her childhood, including her parents’ turbulent marriage and subsequent separation. She experiences a typical upbringing in Kentwood, Louisiana, her life consisting of church, school, home, and outdoor activities. When she is launched into the spotlight due to a Mickey Mouse Club audition, her world radically changes. Not only does fame overwhelm her world, but her familial and friend relationships become strained as life in Kentwood goes on without her. She writes, “I wanted to hide, but I also wanted to be seen. Both things could be true.”  Britney is constantly searching for love and validation, wanting to be the good girl she promised her dad she would be years prior. Emotionally she seems stunted in adolescence, as if the fast-paced music industry blocked Britney’s mental maturity.

The memoir follows her shifting relationships with her siblings and parents, tumultuous romantic relationships with other famous people, surprise marriages, and motherhood. The writing is simple and reminiscent of Britney’s voice in interviews – but like her media presence, the story feels surface level with little investigation of her interior. When the book was over, I felt both relieved and sorry for her, though not like I understood her any more than I already did. I knew the details of her story from her perspective but little else about the southern girl who reached iconic status. The memoir reads like a tragedy with little hope for the future. Perhaps that’s how Britney feels – I’m not sure. Having just read Jessica Simpson’s memoir Open Book, I couldn’t help comparing the two – Simpson’s book being far superior and revealing of the artist. Like the conservatorship that Britney endured for 13 years, her memoir felt filtered, as if she was speaking through a fog, one she may not even be aware of. The Britney fans will appreciate this memoir, but otherwise, it fell flat for me.  

“I realized how powerful it can be when women defy expectations.”