Britney Spears’ Conservatorship - A Denial of Basic Human Freedoms?
Many of us look at the lives of celebrities and wish that for even one day we could feel the thrill of being famous. We bestow upon them superhero status, revering them for their awe-inspiring talent and success. However, what most of us don’t realize is that some of their lives are more challenging and difficult than any of us can imagine. They are constantly chased by the paparazzi wherever they go, are held accountable for every tweet they tweet, every photo they post on social media, and can never simply go to a supermarket or a restaurant without being harassed.
Hollywood stars can’t do the things they want to do. They act in movies or perform on stage, but they also have to act in their real lives. Britney Spears is a case in point. Having risen to the top of the global pop charts with her debut single, “Baby One More Time” at age 16, Britney Spears became an iconic household name. Teenagers the world over idolized her, following her every move in the tabloids, newspapers, and magazines. People knew if she put on a few pounds, got a pimple on her forehead, or didn’t apply her makeup before she popped out for bread and milk. Her whole life was on display for the world to see.
In 2007, amid a traumatic custody dispute with her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, Spears was harassed by the press seeking to dig up more dirt on allegations that she was an unfit mother and had mental health issues. Understandably, the stress of having her whole life dissected for the world to criticize left her feeling anxious and psychologically unstable. The world watched as she shaved her head on camera and smashed a paparazzo’s SUV with an umbrella.
Following numerous periods in hospital and rehab, Britney’s father, Jamie Spears, urged courts to place his daughter under a conservatorship. The primary conservator, he was in charge of making decisions about her career and personal life. This arrangement was extended indefinitely, and in 2019, Britney Spears sought to discontinue the conservatorship. In an emotional court appearance, she poured out about how she was forced to perform in concerts against her will and get an IUD inserted so that she could not have more children.
Analogous to the abortion laws in some countries (including the changes in Texas in the US) where women have little say over their bodies, Spears’ conservatorship means that unlike the rest of us normal folk, she has no legal control over her body. Advocacy organizations such as Planned Parenthood have drawn comparisons between the pregnancy limits imposed on Spears and what they refer to as reproductive coercion – policies that prevent access to birth control or those that seek to control pregnancy outcomes.
As Paula Ávila-Guillén, Executive Director of the Women’s Equality Center says, “Reproductive freedom is a basic human right.” Being able to choose if, and when to marry; and decide if you want to have children and how many, are choices we should all be able to make.
Which brings up another interesting thought – this would never happen to the male version of Britney Spears. In fact, many male celebrities have had similar crazed outbursts, but have not been subjected to the same treatment as Britney. For example, Kanye West wasn’t swiftly whisked off to rehab after publicly humiliating his wife and revealing secrets about their private life in an ill-considered outpouring on Twitter. Instead, his wife, Kim Kardashian, urged the public to empathize with the fact that West had been struggling with bipolar mood disorder.
It seems that men are more easily forgiven and are more readily excused for their misadventures. Women, on the other hand, are subject to somewhat different standards, having to prove themselves over and over to gain the respect they deserve.
After 13 years of behaving under the conservatorship rules, performing on stage when she is told to, and paying the people that have control over her life huge sums of money, all she wants is to end the inappropriate control over her life and finances. At age 39, she is urging the courts to give her the freedom to make her own decisions and live the life she wants to lead. It seems like a reasonable request.