Since she first did a back-hand-spring into my heart
My next piece about Britney Spears is up at Alpha Mom:
"It was once Britney got pregnant, though, that I really had a hard time believing what I was seeing: the many, many times she was photographed barefoot in public or looking like she hadn't showered since last century. Why would someone as rich as she is, with as much fame and attention, walk out of the house looking like that when she knows a picture of her bra-less nipples are going to show up the next week in magazines across the country? It was less a disapproving reaction than a confused one, and I was fascinated with the anthropological implications of this superstar showing up in photographs screaming: PLEASE JUDGE ME HARSHLY."
I'm going to open up comments here because I think there could be an interesting discussion about this. And also because I'm crazy.
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FM Living
Meg said:
I hate to say it, but I sort of respect her barefootedness. As a fellow (former) Southerner, you might also recognize the urge to be unshod at all times.
06.29.06 - 04:01 AM / 1liznboys said:
Isn't being barefoot better than wearing clogs?
You KNOW someone had to ask the question....
06.29.06 - 04:03 AM / 2kendall said:
I wouldn't call myself a Britney Spears fan, and that black hair thing she's got going on is REALLY not working for me.
But "Toxic" might be one of the best pop songs written in the past 10 years.
06.29.06 - 04:05 AM / 3Lola said:
Though I fell in love the moment I heard the first few notes of "Hit Me Baby One More Time", my love was cemented when I saw the MTV awards. Remember the body. Remember the sequin skin outfit.
I'm about seven years older than Britney but in that moment I wanted to be her.
Now it makes me sad. Now SHE makes me sad.
How the mighty have fallen.
Although, she did look cute in those recent beach shots with the baby. Pregnant bikini belly and all.
She's still in there and I think so many of us pray she returns to us soon.
06.29.06 - 04:07 AM / 4WhimsyChick said:
Don't celebrities have huge groups of people who advise them on what to wear and what to say, so they don't have to do damage control later? Maybe Brit needs to fire her people and get some new ones.
06.29.06 - 04:08 AM / 5S t a c i said:
Every part of Britney's life, warts and all, is fodder for public scorn. It makes me feel sad for her, and glad that the only proof that is left of my 20s is some photographs and the memories of my friends...who thankfully ain't talkin'.
06.29.06 - 04:09 AM / 6kreints said:
Thank you for syaing what I have not been able to verbalize. I cannot say that I am a fan of Britney Spears, but I am a new mother and I can sympathize with her. Nothing that she has done, or that has happened is worth the public humiliation that she has been put through. Not that I am saying that she didn't put herself in the public eye, but the media has magnified it beyond belief.
06.29.06 - 04:11 AM / 7kidsmom said:
I'm MUCH older than Britney. My take is that she has been SOOO controlled and marketed (she was a Mouseketeer before she was Britney) that when she become a MOM, she decided she wanted to be in control of herself. It's all in your face for a reason. Never having had to make a decision of her own now she's exerting the right to do so. I got to make my mistakes in private, she gets to make hers in front of the world.
Poor kid. And I don't me Sean P.
06.29.06 - 04:14 AM / 8Pioneer Woman said:
My take is that for so long---and during the formative ages between 11 and 20---she was primped, made-up, combed, brushed, polished, and touched up, not only every day but SEVERAL TIMES a day. I believe she reached her limit of caring about her appearance and simply can't do it any more. Call it appearance exhaustion.
Combine that with a little early-twenties-post-baby depression/funk and you have a girl who just wants to wake up and not care about what she looks like.
I'll bet when she hits about 28, she'll lose a bunch of weight and find her looks again. She'll be ready to be Sexy Mom instead of the Sad Pop Princess mom.
06.29.06 - 04:14 AM / 9Beachgal said:
I am not a Britney fan. Just not into her. I do feel however, she's made some stupid mistakes. I don't necessarily think she's a bad mom, but she HAS made some bad choices, and because of popularity it gets broadcast everywhere, and she gets ripped apart by it. She needs proper staff that should keep her out of trouble like she's been in, and then people won't judge her so harshly. Except for saying she needs to take care of herself without others telling her what to do, etc., etc. Catch 22, ya know. Oh well. Great piece Dooce.
06.29.06 - 04:14 AM / 10tamara lee said:
what britney is going through right now is what i went through when i was young, in my early twenties and had low self-esteem. everything went to hell. i didn't look good, friends and family warned me and eventually gave up about telling me that my boyfriend at the time was a loser. i cringe every time i read something about her.
kevin federline is a complete douche. i'm awaiting the day she divorces him, gets healthy again and does something good for herself.
on a superficial note, i think that k-fed looks like every stoner i ever knew of in highschool. dirt 'stache? check. squinty eyes? check. AND he's starting to get that skinny-fat guy look from drinking too much.
poor brit!
06.29.06 - 04:15 AM / 11Windy said:
Heather, you're a Southerner. I'm a Southerner. You know darn well that you can take the girl out of the trailer park, but you can't take the trailer park out of the girl. In her early career, she had handlers to tell her when her roots were showing, or when she should spit out her gum. Now that she has some success under her belt, she's also getting some freedom - and woe to us. It's only a matter of time before she's twirling double-fire batons.
06.29.06 - 04:16 AM / 12Urs said:
i think the thing about britney being a mom is that she has around-the-clock nannies to help her with her baby. i know we've seen photos of her with her baby in her arms, and even heard stories about how she changed the babys diper on a restaurant table, wow, big deal! how many times have we seen her leaving the spa, or going shopping, all without her precious baby! it's not like she is up all night long and constantly watching her child, she has others help her with it. and to me, her appearance and behavior is unexcusable because its't not like she is wearing the same t-shirt 3 days in a row. she's a lazy cow!
06.29.06 - 04:20 AM / 13NinasMom said:
I understand that she's expressing herself right now, trying to take control. But seriously, a brush and a bra is not asking too much.
By the way Britney fans, seen the cover of the August issue of Harper's Bazaar? It looks like the Pregnant Demi Moore Vanity Fair cover gone REALLY bad!
06.29.06 - 04:21 AM / 14dyanna said:
I sometimes feel bad for all celebrities...as I sit and read the US magazine I pay $60 a year for. I KNOW they are always being watched by the stinky paparazzi. I would hate to be them. But then again, such is the price of fame. I also dont make a gazillion dollars.
Britney has helpers, assistants, stylists, what-have-you. There is NO REASON why her bra should have been poking out the side of her shirt while talking to Matt Lauer or why her extensions look a fright or why she was chewing gum like a cow during the whole thing. I think, like with Tom Cruise, she should have people tell her what to do and how to do it - when he fired his publicist and hired his sister, all hell broke loose. He turned into this 'crazy man', meanwhile he probably has been this crazy all along, we just didnt know it. As messed up as that sounds, the more 'boring' or 'wholesome' Britney can make herself, the more the press will leave her alone. (Although it may be a little too late for that.)
But that's just my opinion.
06.29.06 - 04:21 AM / 15lap said:
Radio Disney came into my life (with my kids) at that time too- so avoiding Britney was pretty impossible. I sort of fell in love with a cartoon, as I am apt to do, and now I watch her and think I've never seen a person so full of the potential for human failing in my life..but it mostly makes me want to be nice to her-to invite her over for coffee and tell her how much her baby seems to love her.
06.29.06 - 04:22 AM / 16pomponcrystal said:
The thing about Britney is that she contradicts herself. If you watched her embarrassing interview with Matt Lauer, you will see a begging sad woman, pleading with the paparazzi to leave her alone.
Two weeks later, she dyes her hair black as shit and then poses naked (airbrushing ANY sign of motherhood away might I add) on the cover of a magazine.
COME ON!
06.29.06 - 04:24 AM / 17bloomingyou said:
Pioneer Woman: I love the idea of appearance exhaustion.
I'm not a mom-I just watch from the sidelines as my family and friends have raised their babies. I think Britney has made some mistakes and because she is in the public eye she get thoroughly routed for them. That being said, I do think the girl needs to get a better team of publicists around her and get rid of federline.
06.29.06 - 04:24 AM / 18Valerie said:
Part of me thinks that she knows what she's doing. You know, the whole "no such thing as bad publicity" thing. But, then I also think that it's her way of sticking it to the world. After years of being molded and guided and handled, she's letting us know that she can do whatever she wants and be whom ever she wants to be. If that's the case, I'm all for it.
06.29.06 - 04:25 AM / 19Me said:
Amen, let's here it for Nutbush! Rock on Mremphris....
Like Windy said- she's country, she's proud. I wouldn't be surprised to find K-Fed's room decked out in confed flags and camo, personally. Bet Brit's got at least one pair of dark brown gauchos that she wears with her orange Bass Pro Shop tshirt.
I'm glad she isn't conforming to the smoke and mirrors, glitter and gold Hollywood Stepford Wives role.
I'd rather have someone real (heck at least she waited til marriage til she got knocked up, does anybody give her credit for that?!) out there, trying to raise up a family, than some fake publicity shot junk.
All I'm saying is...wish she'd stuck with Justin. K-Fed's a little too hard for my taste.
06.29.06 - 04:25 AM / 20dooce said:
i think some of you should actually read what i wrote before you comment here, before you come here and spew a whole bunch of holier-than-thou judgmental bullshit.
06.29.06 - 04:25 AM / 21Meshugga said:
I have to say, I was actually impressed when Britney started showing signs of being an actual human being instead of this perfectly-polished pop star princess (wow, too many P's there). Smoking, drinking, partying...I was like "Go Britney! You represent, girl!" And when she became pregnant and subsequently a mother, I adored her barefootedness and lumpy belly and jiggly upper arms...made her more tangible in terms of being a regular person like the rest of us.
The only things I take umbrage to are her questionable parenting skills and her skanky husband who to this day confuses me completely with his brand of Ick. Tamara lee said it best with her stoner description above, and I can only amend it with a big WTF? to the guy's recording career...and I use the word career very loosely here. I think one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time is the video of him showing off one of his tunes in the studio...he was so damn pleased with himself and all I could think was "Oh dear god, there goes our landfills."
06.29.06 - 04:26 AM / 22Nancy said:
I'm too old to be much of a Britney fan, but it is heartening to see that she seems to have such a strong desire to be a mother.
06.29.06 - 04:26 AM / 23Vikki said:
I think it is very complicated. I am not a fan of Britney's but I also know that I would not like my parenting to be scrutinized the way hers has been and will continue to be. I've always found her a bit irritating but, now, I just feel bad for her. Being a parent is hard enough without being married to someone who calls himself K-fed.
06.29.06 - 04:26 AM / 24textimage said:
heather,
thanks as always for the read(s). i like your brining attention to ms. spears single handedly tearing down the glossy facade of celebrity publicity and polish, however if would be a more powerful statement if in fact this was her intention. you cant go from being a manufactured product to a renegade showing by example that you poo-poo whats wrong with the dependence on image AND then to turn around and dye your hair dark brown (which loooks lovely on her by the way) and pose nekkid in bazaar. she is a plain ol mess and cause shes doing it blindly, seemingly w/o the ability to understand her rebel actions, the potential for social critisism via britney is lost. sorry dooce.
one more observation i find torubling and worth of discussion. you wrote: "she was photographed driving with her child in her lap." the choice to say she was "photographed" driving with her child on her lap subtlely distracts from the actual act of her choosing to drive withher child on her lap. which is horrific, stupid and sure it's sad too. but inexcuseable and to paint it any other way is troublesome. everyone deserves compassion as does britney but compassion does not mean NOT speaking (writing) honestly about the human condition as well as its manifestations.
all best.
06.29.06 - 04:28 AM / 25Karyn said:
You know, if you're in the public eye, are famous and know that the paparazzi document your every move...surely it can't be that hard to just not do dumb stuff.
Being famous is sort of like having a job...if your boss is standing over you then you gotta be on your best behaviour...Brittney the paparazzi is your boss...how hard can it be to remember to keep yourself nice?
Plus...how many days after Sean Preston's birth did she conceive spawn #2?
06.29.06 - 04:29 AM / 26kittykatgrl said:
Perfectly said (as usual) Heather! I'm betting on the previous "appearance exhaustion" post. I think she will eventually dump the skankiest (is that a word?) man on the planet, lose some weight, and WOW us by her late 20's.
06.29.06 - 04:30 AM / 27Jill Shalvis said:
I'm just grateful I'm not the only one making mistakes!
06.29.06 - 04:31 AM / 28Pascha said:
I've always loved Britney, but the poor girl has just gone deep into a downward spiral. And as hard as she tried to redeem herself in her interview with Matt Lauer, I think it just made things worse for her.
06.29.06 - 04:33 AM / 29momtolivi said:
I've always been a huge Britney fan. Until she hooked up with Cletus--he has brought her down so low.
I agree with Heather's Alpha Mom article. Those first few months of motherhood are pure hell. You're so scared--of everything. Even those of us who spent so much time wanting and planning a baby were turned upside down once that little bundle arrived.
Part of me feels so bad for her but another part says, "Wake up! What the hell are you doing? You're a beautiful, wealthy girl who can do anything you want. Why are you married to a scum bag and having not one, but TWO of his children? I think she's stuck right now. I just hope she finds the strength to regain herself and become the amazing girl/woman she once was.
06.29.06 - 04:33 AM / 30