Youthquake is a newsletter with Pop Culture ∙ Commentary ∙ Critique
Friday’s TGIF lineup varies, from New Music Friday releases, Love Letters, The Audio Files, playlists, Retro Fixation, film lists/reviews, The Style Files, and so much more in pop culture adjacency. For this week’s TGIF, we’re taking a deep dive into nostalgia with our recollective and reflective memories of past pop culture history with Retro Fixation with added commentary and critiques now seen through a modern lens.
Dante said it best, ‘The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.’ This mantra goes doubly to Britney Spears, who helped many humans like me feel any beautiful serotonin in this dark world throughout her established career. This Youthquake is dedicated to mí Diosa Eterna, Britney Spears, whom the world is rallying behind.
Britney Spears circa 2002’s Crossroads. Photo Cr. Felicia Culotta.
In 1999, my overprotective immigrant parents agreed to let me go outside the small East Texas town I grew up in for a class field trip in Dallas. They rarely did, which sounds extreme, but culturally, immigrant parents tend to be authoritarian with their first-gen kids— but because some of my peers couldn’t attend due to fighting, my parents couldn’t deny me a free pass. Before then, I’d never even heard of Medieval Times, while my fellow peers did. So as any first-gen kid trying to find a literal place to sit at the proverbial assimilative table, I lied to fit it, and I had no idea what to expect. Upon arrival, teachers split students into kingdoms of black, blue, green, orange, red, and yellow; luck wasn’t on my side as I was assigned yellow along with primarily wealthier white pre-teens males with puka shells necklaces. My flippant and outspoken tendencies hadn’t found strength in my voice yet, so I stealthily tried to trade for blue to no avail; I got sat next to Chad— an obnoxious classmate with a self-assigned title of the class clown. The rest, as it turns out, is a much-sadder aesthetic version of HBO’sGame of Thrones, in retrospect. Still, it was considered cool at ten/eleven years old on a field trip away from parents. Except that Chad and his cargo shorts ruined my lunch of grisly overcooked chicken by spilling his soda all over it— and me, simply because jousting was mentioned. From what I remember, the garlic bread was good, but I can’t recall much else. The drive back was more meaningful because I sat next to someone I can’t remember, but their Sony Walkman changed my musical life. Melodramatics aside, my world professedly changed when hearing the intro to ...Baby One More Time. Especially since my musical options before were oldies/classic rock, anything in Spanish, or church music. My introduction to pop culture was because of Britney Spears; she’s a significant pop cultural awakening to a world outside of what I knew— more than a Ringleader, but more like my musical white rabbit that led Alice down into wonderland.
John Tenniel c 1864.
Within the year, I remember my strict parents forbade me from listening much less anything to do with Britney because of the then sensationalized Rolling Stone Magazine cover photographed by David LaChapelle. A teenager showing her midriff is somehow unavoidable news, even now because we still live in a patriarchal world where women fall at the clutches of wildly gross speculation from men everywhere early on. The actual red flags should’ve been the wording from Rolling Stone reporter Steven Daly creepily wrote about her figure, noting her “honeyed thigh” also how the BABY PHAT logo is “distended by her ample chest.” Oh, and also how “her silky white shorts — with dark blue piping — clung snugly to her hips. She cocks her head and smiles receptively.” The following paragraph states, “it’s not like that!” and goes on to the rest of the article, but this “playful” setup isn’t some appreciation of her beauty— it’s reductive to see her only as some Lolita fantasy, instead of the humanizing or even lighthearted artist profile that Britney deserved. Daly recognizes this now, but the much bigger picture is always why magazines do this even still. Speculation of her life continued with wretched men commenting and joking; even some atrocious and entitled rich cretin reached out to Britney’s record company, Jive, and offered £7.5m for her virginity as a nineteen-year-old in the industry. Worst of all, Britney had to publicly comment and denounce the disgusting offer and the unacceptable behavior men seem to have. Britney’s private life is no one’s business, yet it was noteworthy news when it shouldn’t have been. The sinister hypocrisy of Purity culture reared its two-sided face shaming Britney for something that wasn’t of anyone’s concern except hers. Nevertheless, the backlash was fierce about how Britney’s an inappropriate role model— a title assigned to her due to her former The Mickey Mouse Club days working for Disney and the image she was idealized for, except she never asked for that.
Growing up during TRL’s prime was surreal. I remember watching the Backstreet Boys shut down Times Square in 1999 and Eminem’s take over as host in 2000. I also remember Mariah Carey’s ice cream-laden surprise appearance in 2001, an episode I remember fondly. The after-effects of that episode rippled into the typical media ridicule and minimized mental health for the sake of PR perception but specifically trivialized women into punchlines. Being in my early adolescence during this time, tabloids like Us Magazine, Life & Style, and more were relentless in their one-sided quest for reporting gossip. Britney’s always been a divisive entity, and archival history exists. Every misstep she took as a young adult figuring out her new normal became entertainment for the masses during the early aughts. Public defamation became a sport for entertainment, the media (and many of its heavy hitters) sank their razor-sharp fangs into Britney during her most tumultuous times. I was online during the beginning of toxic parasitic sites like Perez Hilton and Harvey Levin’s TMZ as they capitalized on celebrity worship culture, particularly on Britney’s entity— a critical lens was always on Britney as a good girl gone wrong.
“Britney is gold. She is crack to our readers. Her life is a complete train wreck, and I thank God for her every day.” An actual 2006 quote from Levin, is why capitalistic vultures like he and Perez (and other scummy men) speaking out suddenly in favor of the #FreeBritney Movement are transparent PR optics.
The noughties were set with a male gaze that encompassed the angry toxic male energy of the nineties, despite the third wave of feminism and girl power. Lousy and skeezy behaving entertainment execs and Hollywood suits in charge took full advantage as the media cashed in and the public mesmerized by all the shiny and alleged “reality.” Historically, society has been unkind to women, specifically those who dare to live their life on their terms. Her understandably spiraling mental health deserved much better than what she got— in February of 2008, Britney’s life was changed forever by her exhaustive conservatorship. Image is a currency in the industry, and woefully, in those days, mental health wasn’t a priority, as we see now the accumulative buildup of burnout. Britney began working immediately after her conservatorship began with a guest appearance on the then CBS sitcom (How I Met Your Mother), followed by completed albums, tours, a Las Vegas residency, and more. So, any time that she can truly live her life as she desires is sincerely long overdue. Even after Britney’s sympathizing and understanding breakdown, her strength to push forward is admirable. The courage of her conviction is what assured fans like me that saw through her Southern Belle facade as she was quietly suffering as the media continued the sickly obsession before finally hearing the cries of her most prominent advocates of the #FreeBritney Movement.
The media’s fixation with women living their lives is daunting. Impressionable young women aren’t always privy to how enigmatic behavior can make others, like fragile men, uncomfortable with seeing women own their power and be unphased. They shouldn’t have to either, yet women are made to feel less than so the status quo can thrive. Most of Britney’s interviews perfectly encapsulate this as supposed professionals poke and pry while making unpleasant questions/comments as if to demand or look for a reaction to later gaslight the public into furthering her supposed stigma. It’s been a long one-sided game with fire and kerosene. For some reason, Britney’s mental health has been a prominent topic for public discourse for everyone to speculate on and crack jokes throughout the years. Britney was an undeniable good sport even though she shouldn’t have been given her mistreatment. Growing up in the public eye can’t be easy, mainly as capitalistic vultures are waiting to prey and repeatedly cash in on your traumas and misfortune. Toxic masculinity is rampant, yet we women get our healthcare taken away as our choices are branded with antique scorching scarlet letters and tarnished records. Our patriarchal society has to remind all women of our supposed places to keep us humble and assert power. Ask public figures like Anita Hill, Mia Farrow, Princess Diana, Monica Lewinsky, Winona Ryder, Amanda Bynes, Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Simpson, and Meghan Markle. Also, women like Anna Nicole Smith, Whitney Houston, and more deserve better than years-long media abuse and harassing tasteless jokes. Contrastingly, some bad behaving men are still doing the most; seemingly, reputation isn’t something men worry about or stress over. Even years later and knowing better, some still don’t. Like the aforenamed Perez, who barnacled the Hilton-heiress surname. Ironically, Perez currently hopes the public can forgive his past but won’t help Britney and others he’s hurt by moving forward and erasing his past degrading blog posts. The continuing advocacy on Britney’s behalf is beautiful to see; however, to see people like Harvey and Perez propagate their flimsy views towards whatever clicks most isn’t lost on many. A media reckoning deserves to ignite within those with greedy hands at play for helping create the traumatizing monster, whose takedown Britney fans and supporters have been plotting or celebrating on social media. Perhaps it’s from seeing my mother and sisters starting over and begin again; it wasn’t entertaining to see someone suffer helplessly. Worst of all, alienated and hopeless— this is why for those familiar with emotional abuse, the signs are recognizable. Abuse comes in many forms, not just the most known like physical, emotional, mental, and verbal abuse is as cutting just not visibly. Whether romantic, familial, or platonic, relationships shouldn’t make us feel less than or small. Without reposting Britney’s troubling and heartbreaking testimony, I suggest you take time to read or hear her words if you haven’t yet. They’ll dolefully move you.
Sadly, abusers tend to statistically stay within positions of authority, which feeds their ego while having access to prey to gain and maintain a power structure. Control is the only currency they demand over another person(s) and subject that victim to psychological, physical, sexual, or financial abuse. It should be no surprise when abusers hold authoritative positions as careers but the media always seems to be over the survivors and victims. Additionally, things like Ivy College Education, influential wealth or fame don’t necessarily make anyone a good person; I think more people are learning the opposite to be confirmed with our elected government officials and most public figures. At the expense of men, it’s not just men. Women certainly play a part in the instilled patriarchy, misogyny, and mistreatment of Britney. Not to solely call out Diane Sawyer, because so many other women were grossly horrid to Britney, but it’s duly noted that Sawyer’s interview is cringe-worthy. Her benevolent questions were uncomfortable to watch as an impressionable young lady watching but even more so for the young lady being interviewed these questions. There shouldn’t have been a reason to ask any twenty-one-year-old intimate details of their sexuality during a live interview, much less for public discourse— but that’s what happened. The inappropriate questions further enabled this entitlement of mistreatment and toxic humor at the expense of Britney, who’s always professionally gracious and smiling through bottled emotions.
The internet has a well-documented archive of Britney’s societal treatment; most of the problematic glossy tabloid magazines that once tantalized were just rags that kept tearing her and other women down for entertainment. Unhealthily speculating on Britney’s every move with clickbait hit jobs is gloomily her actual life of years-long treatment as an exploitable inhuman asset. All the while getting fetishized and objectified as the public commanded more in gulping heaps. It’s cruel to watch women’s lives fall apart at the hands of men and then laugh at their demise as they’re left to pick up the pieces alone, it sounds harsh, yet that’s what happened with Britney Spears. I couldn’t find myself finishing the Hulu documentary or original piece because it didn’t sit well with my spirit. Now with a second unsettling documentary via Netflix featuring her micromanaged life, I didn’t even watch the trailer because the media’s mistreatment of the noughties was evident in my adolescence then, and it’s evident to me now as a woman. Britney’s a young lady grappling with fame, even now, as the media preys on her while making plenty of money from her misfortune. Without trying to claim that I’m aware of the multilayer and years-long situation but growing up as a longtime Britney fan, I can’t help but feel protective over her. I don’t want to be her voice or speak for her because Britney isn’t voiceless; her voice has always been her greatest strength. She’s been unjustly and comprehensively silenced for thirteen years via an extensive controversial conservatorship, and the #FreeBritney Movement’s been a striking mic pass to help someone genuinely luminescent.
“I have a duty to speak the truth as I see it and share not just my triumphs, not just the things that felt good, but the pain, the intense, often unmitigated pain. It is important to share how I know survival is survival and not just a walk through the rain.” - Audre Lorde.
An ode to Britney Spears’ projects of hope. Image via Google.
Reducing Britney Spears’ twenty-year-long career (and her, for that matter) has been a constant since she first entered the scene. Spears’ music was always viewed and judged as less than because it was “pop,” yet we wouldn’t have the popular culture we have today because of Britney Spears. Britney wasn’t just some teenage dream fantasy— she WAS the teen dream that caused a frenzied sensation with her choreography and that goofy grin she does that enamored the same loyal fanbase to this very day. Britney Spears forever changed the music and pop culture stratosphere.
I’ll part with one of my favorite Britney ballads that’s emotionally evocative songs throughout her discography. Britney composed the haunting melody on the piano before producer Guy Sigsworth mastered it to the melancholic track we know. The heartbreaking song is heavily loaded in response to the growing abuse of the tabloids that never let up— along with Britney’s response to a famous ex-boyfriend, whose toxic pattern was publicly disparaged women repeatedly. This delicate gem of a song showed another side that Britney rarely let the public see: her vulnerability and openness to forgiveness, which she belatedly deserves now.
I recently bought Michaela Coel’s Misfits; it’s a quick but substantive read:
“A misfit is someone who either feels ostracized by society because they don’t fit into whatever ideals the society has established as ‘normal’— but also a misfit is someone who simply looks around the world and sees it in a way that’s different.”
One lucky Youthquake reader will earn a free copy of the ‘personal manifesto’ and some other surprises, more on that later. Until then, I plan to get lost in Joan Didion’s literary work; I somehow scored a first edition of Slouching Towards Bethlehem in hopes that it’ll inspire me.
