Give the princess of pop her freedom back

“I just want my life back,” Britney Spears told a judge in Los Angeles yesterday as the 39-year-old made a plea for the end to the conservatorship that has controlled her life for over a decade. 

Once hailed as the “princess of pop”, Spears shot to fame at just 16 years old with her debut album …Baby One More Time. Having grown up in Louisiana, the small town girl soon became one of America’s most famous stars, with six of her first seven albums reaching number one on the Billboard charts. Her music was catchy, her talent undeniable and everything she did came with a certain sex appeal that made it hard to look away.

As with many young stars, fame and money came with immense pressure and media attention and the high of success came with a brutal comedown. In 2006, she gave birth to her second son, divorced the dancer Kevin Federline, and lost a close family member to cancer shortly after. By 2007, the woman who once dominated headlines, magazine covers and music channels became a pop-culture icon again, for all the wrong reasons. Images of Britney Spears shaving her head with electric clippers became an instant meme, often accompanied by the “inspirational” phrase: “If Britney can make it through 2007, you can make it through today.” Spears lost custody of her sons soon after.

In 2008, Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, was granted full custody of her affairs by court order after she was admitted to hospital due to concerns over her mental health. The court-ordered conservatorship gives Jamie Spears full control of his daughter’s finances, medication and work schedule. As part of his financial control of Spears’ estate, her father was granted a percentage cut of everything she earns (the singer has an estate worth $60 million). Reports suggest her father pays himself $16,000 per month, double Britney’s allowance. Just like that Spears’ life became something straight out of a Grimms’ fairytale – the princess of pop trapped in a castle.

Appearing in open court for the first time, Spears said she was traumatised and cried every day. The popstar alleged horrifying details of the conservatorship, including being forced to go on lithium against her wishes and being banned from seeing particular friends. Spears even alleged her desire to have another baby is prohibited by the conservatorship team, as they have disallowed her to have her IUD removed.

Though the initial reasons for the conservatorship might have had the singer’s best interests at heart, the ongoing ordeal is reminiscent of the outdated diagnosis of “female hysteria”, a no longer medically recognised term. Women were lazily labelled “mentally ill” for the smallest of inconveniences, or “unladylike” sexuality, and sent to mental asylums and sometimes forced to undergo hysterectomies. For over a decade, the manipulation of her mental well-being has infantilised a grown woman who has adequate resource to look after herself and seems determined to prove her stability and take back control of her life. 

Whilst her father and the conservatorship team are largely to blame for the exploitation which Spears compared to that of a “sex trafficking victim”, the media and the concept of celebrity are not without fault. Female celebrities are often commodified within the industry, allowing for easy manipulation. For years Spears was seen as a money-making sex machine, it is hard to ignore how this reputation might have contributed to the continued treatment of Spears as a body, without wants, desires or needs, the very pillars of human existence. 

Spears’ court appearance comes as a win for the #FreeBritney movement, started by concerned fans who were convinced that Spears’ freedom and wellbeing was threatened by the ongoing conservatorship. Spears’ plight was trivialised and mined for online content, creating the perfect environment for her continued entrapment. The #FreeBritney movement was likened to a “conspiracy movement” until Spears found the courage to speak up. “I’ve been in denial. I’ve been in shock. I am traumatised,” she told the court.

It is easy to hyperbolise or dramatise the experience and suffering of celebrities. The popular Hulu and New York Times documentary Framing Britney Spears bought Spears’ conservatorship into the public eye but at times felt like turning her suffering into a lucrative spectacle. But Spears needs the public to take her and her wellbeing seriously for once. It seems hard to argue for the ongoing patriarchal control of a 39-year-old woman when she has the clarity to argue passionately and convincingly for her own autonomy in court.

After years of mocking and mistreatment, the princess of pop should be freed from her castle and allowed to enjoy the fruits of her kingdom.