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A review by bashsbooks
The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
3.0
Spears has been through quite a lot that I cannot imagine. Listening to her describe the horrors of the conservatorship and the forced separations from her children made me furious and upset on her behalf.
That said... I think she has vastly miscalculated the primary force behind her problems (soceitallly speaking, not individuallly). She harps on this current of feminism and seems to think misogyny is the main culprit behind her struggles. While it's a complex situation and I'm sure misogyny played a role, the consequence of this narrow focus is that Spears does not seem to realize the huge amounts of ableism involved in what was done to her and makes no mention of disability activism, even going so far as to throw "crackhead heroin addicts", "girls who hallucinate screaming", and "criminals" in a similar situation under the bus. I understand that her trauma probably makes her want to feel like she did not have a mental illness (and hell, maybe she didn't, but there is nothing wrong with having one) but her strong protests against this narrative have the unfortunate side-effect of suggesting Actually Disabled People might deserve this, but not healthy Her.
That said... I think she has vastly miscalculated the primary force behind her problems (soceitallly speaking, not individuallly). She harps on this current of feminism and seems to think misogyny is the main culprit behind her struggles. While it's a complex situation and I'm sure misogyny played a role, the consequence of this narrow focus is that Spears does not seem to realize the huge amounts of ableism involved in what was done to her and makes no mention of disability activism, even going so far as to throw "crackhead heroin addicts", "girls who hallucinate screaming", and "criminals" in a similar situation under the bus. I understand that her trauma probably makes her want to feel like she did not have a mental illness (and hell, maybe she didn't, but there is nothing wrong with having one) but her strong protests against this narrative have the unfortunate side-effect of suggesting Actually Disabled People might deserve this, but not healthy Her.
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Miscarriage, Abortion, and Pregnancy