Originally published at: Britney Spears free of father's control | Boing Boing
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While not a victim of actual chattel slavery or sex trafficking, it’s without a doubt that Britney Spears was indeed a captive who was robbed of her agency as a functioning adult.
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IIRC, she did talk about being forced to tour when she did not feel up to it. It must be awful, singing and dancing your heart out, sweating like a pig and pretending to enjoy yrself, while faced with zillions of adoring fans whom you don’t want to let down, when all you wanna do is collapse, cry, and take a nap. Night after night, rinse and repeat. Yuck.
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Although not what I would call a great movie, I Care a Lot went a long way in showing how scary conservatorship can be, especially with tuned out judges. Hopefully a high-profile case like this will lead to more oversight so that it is not abused (because there are legitimate cases where it is needed, though more often with cases of advanced dementia).
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Our system reflects our values. In this case, the value remains “if we at all assume you are lesser than anyone else, your rights will go out the fucking window with as much speed as we can muster.” And there’s ZERO doubt in my mind, our country views mental health as “you’re lesser, you’re weak, you’re incompetent,” even if that mental health crisis isn’t debilitating. It’s the old lies of meritocracy writ into our legal code.
Try getting that type of response for domestic violence.
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So happy she’s finally got her freedom back, and that she’s now likely to be Japan’s new P.M.
Yeah. I’ve not been seeking out Britney Spears news items (probably the opposite, really), but I run across the odd bit of information about her situation, and my response, every single time, was absolute shock that the way she was being treated was legally allowed. The surveillance structures built around her, the total lack of control over her own life - all funded by the income she herself generated but wasn’t allowed to make use of. I’m still unclear how she managed to hire a lawyer, since even that was out of her control, in a perverse catch-22.
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There are different kinds of slavery. It’s still possible to be a slave in a gilded cage, not allowed to decide who you have relationships with or to have autonomy over your own body, or when and where you work, and where the person who has total legal control over your adult body and life gives them self more of your money than they give you.
It shouldn’t have to be a contest.
But, the chattel slavery that goes on around the world, such as on fishing boats, does deserve at least as much coverage as Britney Spears circumstances
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Is it just me, or does Jamie Spears bear a striking resemblance to the Mayor from Buffy in that pic?
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No, that’s Tam Elbrun.
ETA: better link
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The stress of a constant sea of paparazzi is oppressive in itself, too.
ETA
Historical footnote on the media and Britney Spears.
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Sorry, should have been more explicit in pointing out that that was a bit of fun-poking, in that Spears’ dad resembles a Buffy “Big Bad”.
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lol, no, I got it. But I can’t see that actor without thinking of Star Trek:TNG.
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Man, I miss his take on late night. Ferguson was the best of them.
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Here here! I wish I had a second like to give.
Extreme abuse can happen even to the wealthy. It really shouldn’t be compared to trafficking and chattel slavery, because it’s very much not equivalent, but of course people would do well to remember that those are not the only forms of abuse that can happen to human beings!
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Indeed. The level of control that the conservatorship gave someone else over Spears’ entire life is fucking harrowing; all the more so because that person was her father, and the fact that he made a profit from treating his own daughter like a prisoner.
I’ve never been a big Britney fan in general, and I definitely haven’t always agreed with her questionable choices in life… but it’s HER life, and they are HER choices to make.
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And apparently for the last 13 years, those questionable choices in life weren’t even hers.
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And in this case, if it was mentioned here I missed it, the forced (albeit reversible) sterilization of Spears during a huge portion of her childbearing years, knowing that she wanted to have more children, is another cruel form of physical and psychological abuse.
Artistically, I have no strong opinions either way on her work, but as a person my heart goes out to her.
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Looking back, I remember when the news covered her mental breakdown and how everyone made fun of her, including myself to my shame. I’d like to think we’ve come a long way since then, but maybe not for all of us. Anyway, I heard Page 7 podcast cover Britney Spears in great detail. It’s a long and sad tale and I think she deserves much better.
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