The Woman In Me by Britney Spears
(Format used for this read: print–hardback)
he Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope.
In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice—her truth—was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey—and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history.
Written with remarkable candor and humor, Spears’s groundbreaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love—and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.
I am not a person who identifies as a Britney fan.
While I surely have bopped along to her music in my car plenty of times (I still own several of her CDs from back in the day!), sang her hits at karaoke bars, and shook my booty to her remixes at plenty of dance clubs, she wasn’t a singer that I adored or admired or even would pay to see live.
I was never super duper impressed by her singing ability…I mean she is GOOD don’t get me wrong, but I feel like there are HUNDREDS of pop stars out there who have equal vocal talents.
To me her voice was nothing unique or extra special.
Now her DANCING on the other hand….now THAT has always impressed me.
That girl can MOVE!
And I’ve always thought she was adorable and precious….
I definitely think she has that pop star ESSENCE…and I totally understood why she was so popular and successful.
So…while I appreciate Britney for who and what she is, I am not a fangirl.
Really one of only reasons I wanted to read this book was because we were going to do a whole episode about her on the podcast I co-host with my friend Katie.
(Yes, here I am talking about it again yall….so if you missed my mention the first time, our podcast is called “Generation In-Between” and you can find all our links here: https://linktr.ee/generationinbetween )
Now Katie IS a self proclaimed Britney superfan so I knew I needed at least some BASIC knowledge of her background and such before we recorded an hour long deep dive discussion about her 🤣
Basic Britney things I knew before reading this book (mostly because I used to be a People magazine subscriber back in the day):
-she’s from Louisiana…her hometown is only a little over an hour away from my own
-all the lyrics to all her number one hits (like I said…I still have those CDs 🤣)
-she was on the Mickey Mouse club
-her and Justin Timberlake had a bad break up back in the day
-she had two kids with that greasy looking dancer guy Kevin Federline
-her mental health was not good for awhile
-her family effed her over with some type of conservatorship situation
That’s about it. Just basic shit.
After reading this book I keep thinking of the quote that was in the beginning of that MTV Diary show…
“You think you know…but you have no idea”
DAMN, yall.
I really did not know the SHIT this girl has gone thru in her life.
And so much of her pain and strife and problems and grief was because of her OWN FRIGGIN FAMILY!
Yes, I know I am behind the times GREATLY on all this yall…but ya girl did NOT KNOW about the ins and outs of all that conservatorship BS.
I remember the whole #FreeBritney frenzy and knew just small tidbits about what it was all about…..but I never did dig deeper to know more or understand what was up.
JESUS LAWD.
It was WORSE THAN YOU THINK, yall.
And you know…what makes me the most sad and frustrated for her is that when she WAS struggling with mental health, nobody helped her the way she needed. They just made it HARDER and shamed her for not being able to help herself.
And SOOO many people took advantage of her….SO DANG MANY.
I hate how she was objectified by the public and the industry at such a young age…and it continues on to this very day.
GROSS.
Patriarchy and misogyny at their finest.
I was kinda shocked to hear all the tea spilled about Justin Timberlake—it is quite obvious that was her first and worst heartbreak that she still carries lots of scars from. I think on a personal level we can ALL relate to that feeling.
Britney has been thru some SHIT, yall.
She was straightforward and honest in this book and did not hold NOTHING back here…and I truly think it was pretty brave.
How easily people have labeled her as “crazy” and laughed her off (me shamefully raising my hand here)…when nobody knew what was really going on within her mind, her life, and her heart.
I’m glad that she wrote this book as I think it’s an important part of her continuing to discover her voice and who she is…and also for her healing.
Now I will say this….
Britney is *not* any kind of literary genius.
She isn’t super eloquent and doesn’t have the best writing style….
Her book reminded me of when you would write papers in school and try to double space it as much as you could to fill up the page requirements….lotssss of extra room in this book, yall. 🤣
But it’s all good.
Kinda adds to charm.
And also stays true to who she really is.
She didn’t try to put on airs or be somebody she isn’t.
I respect that.
Did reading this book make me turn into a Britney superfan?
Naw. But it DID make me see her and understand her in a different light than I have before…
And I think THAT is why she wrote it.
If you ARE a Britney fan, you probably already read this book lol
But if you are NOT a fan (or someone who kinda fell in the grey area like me), I think it’s worth your time to read this….hear her out.
(Don’t worry…because even if you don’t like it, it is a VERY fast read and will be over quickly 🤣)