Pop culture | Mental Health
Whether Rich or Poor — Can Women Ever Be Truly Free?
The Britney Spears saga may offer a few clues on the subject
Are you a free woman?
I am sure you would like to think that you are.
But the truth is stranger than fiction.
Women are not free, not really.
We always seem to belong to everyone else but ourselves.
Most women have never been free and most will never truly be free.
Let's take the case of Britney Spears for example.
All-time pop princess. She was at the top of her game. Then she had a mental breakdown and for 13 years she is being controlled like an errant child.
For more than a decade, Britney Spears had been under a conservatorship “manned” by her father, Jamie Spears.
Unfortunately, her public mental breakdown some years ago resulted in what should have been a temporary conservatorship. This state of affairs went on regardless of her protests.
It seemed not many were listening though she documented the reasons why she should be free of this rule.
Britney was put under conservatorship following her very public breakdown in 2008. Following a year of seemingly erratic behavior — such as shaving her head and attacking a paparazzo’s car with an umbrella — the singer was put under a “5150 hold” in a psychiatric hospital for a mental health evaluation.
At the time, Jamie petitioned courts for an emergency “temporary” conservatorship, alluding to the fact that his daughter was unable to properly care and manage herself amid her mental health struggles.
From there, Jamie was given the legal right to oversee and make decisions regarding Britney’s finances, health, business deals, and personal life which he managed up until 2019.
Why do caged birds sing?
As a woman, I know that I do not want to be controlled.
If you are not a woman, you may never really understand how it feels to be controlled by someone else.
I have been in situations where others have tried to control me. I know how it feels when you are made to feel like a child being told how to think, what to do and exactly how to do it.
I have gotten myself out of such situations and I cannot imagine what it feels like to continuously live under “supervision” for over 13 years.
Read the heartbreaking testimonial transcript here.
“It’s not OK to force me to do anything I don’t want to,” the singer also said. The pop star continued, expressing how her ultimate desire is to be able to make basic life decisions on her own, such as going on a car ride with her longtime boyfriend, Sam Asghari, and have another child, which she alleges she’s not currently permitted to do.
“I have an IUD inside of myself so that I don’t get pregnant, but [my team doesn’t] want me to have any more children,” said Spears, per Newsweek.
What human being deserves to live this way and who has the right to make them?
Who has the right to tell anyone else what they should do?
This more than anything makes me see red. Let’s turn the tables around and let me decide how you are to live.
Let's do this for 13 years and see how you like it.
If a person is not a danger to themselves or the public, how is this allowed to be?
It is ok for her to be on tour, to perform, and to make money, but not ok to know if she can go on a drive with her boyfriend?
Imagine having to ask permission at the ripe old age of 39 years? What adult among us would feel happy in such a situation?
Who would want to live this way?
Especially when you are a pop star and make millions of dollars. To have someone give you your morning pills like you are completely incompetent.
This seems worse than being imprisoned, at least they have some autonomy. Even prisoners get to make some basic decisions.
We teach children to take on more and more decisions so they can be aware of and care for themselves.
Once a person has recovered from a “mental injury”, they should be allowed to resume their life on their terms.
Imagine that the very people you employ and feed are the ones telling you what you can and cannot eat. Would you tolerate that?
I can never / will not ever exist in a state of being controlled. That life is not for me.
Caged birds sing because they dream of being free.
Everyone deserves to be free
Being controlled is often an insidious and unobtrusive process.
It is an underhanded process that before you realize what’s happening you have been caught in its snare.
I have been there!
Freedom is a difficult trek through the maze of hell to the light once again.
We women must be vigilant always.
Everyone is not a friend or even has our best interests at heart.
Monsters hide within families and behind the fake eyes of love.
Women beware!
Do you think women are free, please share your thoughts and experiences in the comment section.
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