'The Women In Me' By Britney Spears: 5 Big Revelations In Memoir

Iconic pop star Britney Spears' long-awaited memoir 'The Woman In Me' has sold 1.1 Million copies across the US in the first week of its release. The memoir was officially released on October 24 and has already sold 1.1 million copies in the form of pre-sales, audiobooks, print, and e-books. According to the publishers, the sales are still high in demand. 

From revealing how she got an abortion while dating Justin Timberlake to being trapped under conservatorship, from opening up about taking psychiatric drugs to forced-wearing IUDs, Britney Spears has bared her life in the book. 

5 Big Revelations In Britney Spears' Memoir

How 13 Years Of Abusive Conservatorship Made Her Feel Like A "Child Robot"

Britney Spears's conservatorship was a legal arrangement set up in 2008 that gave her father Jamie Spears and other people legal control over her career choices, personal life, and finances after Spears had a mental health crisis. Spears opened up about the 13-year-long conservatorship being "abusive" and "traumatising" as she revealed how her father was controlling. She blamed her family for never getting back thirteen significant years of her life. 

The pop star revealed she was secretly forced to wear an IUD to prevent her from getting pregnant and was informed about it after it was inserted inside her. She was not allowed to have more children after a tumultuous custody battle with Kevin Federline losing custody of two children. Her conservators were also taking control over her healthcare as she was forced to intake powerful psychiatric drugs, such as lithium to "control mood".

Spears revealed how she was not allowed to marry, have more children, make career choices, and was threatened to take interviews and concerts. She was not allowed to talk in press conferences make public appearances, or vote, and was forcibly sent to a rehabilitation centre by her father. In a court statement, Spears said "I have the right to choose my voice." 

Spears recalled how she couldn't take a bath in private, drive a car, not watch television for more than an hour, was forced to sleep at 9 pm, kept locked in for months, and couldn't shut the door of her room, apart from being financially abused.

Spears commented on the conservatorship, "It has stripped me of my womanhood and turned me into a child robot."

Having An Abortion At 19 While Dating Justin Timberlake

The pop star recounted her relationship with Justin Timberlake soon after rising to fame as a teenage princess at the age of 16 with her debutant hit Baby One More Time. Spears recalls Timberlake and her having a loving relationship but how she was devastated over the break up that was initiated by text that made her fantasise about quitting the show business.

She recalled in a recent interview with People Magazine how she did view the news of her pregnancy at the age of 19 as a "tragedy" but it pained her to know of Timberlake's unwillingness to have a child together as he thought they "were too young to have a baby."

"Out Of My Mind With Grief" Spears Opens Up About Shaving Her Head and Hitting Paparazzi Car

In the memoir, Spears reflected on the infamous incidents of her shaving her head on camera and smashing a Paparazzi's SUV with an umbrella in 2007. 

She opened up about her mental health struggles with public discrimination.

Spears adds that she is willing to admit to having postpartum depression, abandonment issues, torture of being separated from her babies, the demise of her beloved aunt Sandra, and pressure from the paparazzi.

Losing Custody Battle And Being Separated With Her Sons, Having Being Declared "Mentally Sick"

2007 seemed like a devastating year for Spears as in the same year after losing her close Aunt Sandra to cancer, she was fighting a scrutinising divorce with then-husband Kevin Federline who claimed the singer was not in the right state of mind to fit in marriage or take care of their kids. 

Spears was called mentally "sick" by her husband, Federline, and therefore lost custody of her two young sons Jayden James and Sean Preston who are now 17 and 18 years old respectively. 

Spears recalled that not only she was devastated by her separation from her babies and abandonment by her husband, but was also tired of being eyeballed by people from a very young age telling her how her body should be and what she must do and or not. She recalled she felt like "the whole world was against me" and acting up in ways like shaving her head was her coping ways to keep pushing everything back. 

Fight For #FreeBritney

While, throughout her career span, Spears attracted many controversies, she also gained several loyal fans who stood up for her during her conservatorship by starting a viral social media campaign #FreeBritney demanding to remove Jamie Spears as the singer's legal conservator.

Spears recalled getting "mentally evaluated" and then sent to three months in rehab before she could claim her authority back to make her life decisions. It was while in rehab that a nurse showed her clips of her fans with the viral #FreeBritney movement. 

Spears confessed to the long pending sense of relief she gained when her father was removed as her conservator in 2021.

She has also revealed the aftermath of conservatorship to be emotionally and mentally damaging, reinstating that her family won't ever realise the damage they did for years. 

Suggested Reading: New Britney Spears Documentary Claims Singer Lives In "Virtual Isolation" Since Conservatorship Ended