Control or be controlled: the lessons of Britney Spears's grotesque story | Gaby Hinsliff

After seeing the pop princess chewed up and spat out for profit, it’s no wonder young women are choosing something differentOnce upon a time, a beautiful princess rebelled against her father’s wishes and was locked up in a tower. But nowadays, of course, there are laws against that sort of thing. The Victorians may have shut women away in asylums to spare male embarrassment over what we would now regard as understandable rage, frustration or postnatal depression. But these days we supposedly know better. Nor do parents teach little girls any more that life is a fairytale in which a prince will set you free if you just let down your long blond hair. Yet those old patriarchal ghosts fade surprisingly slowly.The US documentary Framing Britney Spears, investigating whether pop’s own Rapunzel is now being held prisoner by a legal guardianship imposed after her breakdown 13 years ago, hit British screens this week like a flashback to a bad dream. Watching these old clips through 2021 eyes makes you rub them in disbelief. Did the sexagenarian male host of a TV talent show on which she was singing, aged 10, really ask teasingly on air if he could be her boyfriend? But it happened. Continue reading... https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/18/lessons-britney-spears-grotesque-story-pop-princess #celebrity #britney_spears #women