Britney Spears: the brutal media shaming of America’s teen dream

Straight Up

A forensic analysis of Britney’s memoir is top of the agenda this week, as The Woman In Me’s many bombshell revelations make headlines everywhere.

From childhood she was constantly sexualised by the media and after releasing her hit single Baby One More Time in 1998, aged just 16, the world was divided over what she represented: good American role model or dangerously bad influence?

We look at how a toxic media and dated purity culture obsessed and shamed Britney over whether she was a virgin, a grotesque prurience Justin Timberlake himself took horrible advantage of via the calculatedly misogynistic media campaign for his own debut album.

We trawl back through some of the most shocking Britney interviews from the lads mags of the late 90s, using our own experiences at mens' magazines to analyse journalistic motivations and Britney’s own agency. Plus: that now infamous Diane Sawyer interview, and how women journalists were complicit too.

We also discuss everything from the current media narrative around Britney’s devastating abortion revelation to whether this memoir will calm or fuel the ongoing media circus.

Please let us know your thoughts on the episode by sending us a DM @straightuppod on Insta, we love to hear from you!

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