Britney Spears is “Back”? Where Did She Go?

This photo of Bazaar’s front page has Britney Spears on the cover and MTV’s Buzzworthy Blog decided it was worth-while to cover. Just seeing the name Britney Spears sent up red flags in my eyes to not read unless for a class assignment. So naturally, I opened the blog. The subtitle on the cover of the magazine says “Britney’s Back” and the blogger’s description of the front page is very supportive of the sub caption as it points out Spears’s shortcomings at the very start of the entry. Not too long ago, Britney Spears shaved her head and did a couple other things that the media and in turn America alike thought was way too extreme and un lady-like, therefore deranged and worth a psychiatric evaluation. One can’t help but notice that the media structures the views of American culture in this case to think that anything other than the ‘norm’ or ‘perfectly proper’ way of acting is therefore inferior, odd, or just psychotic. Spears’s actions are put into the ‘other’ group because it is not a normal form of behavior, but let’s face it, if one of my classmates were to shave their heads, for their personal ‘crazy’ or for a friend suffering from cancer, the general population wouldn’t think too much into it. Whereas Spears’s fame and pedestal is raised too high not to notice or judge her. Women in the media are supposed to fit a profile of skinny, tall, and flawless. The average American woman does not look like that. One can only imagine the stresses and pressures that Spears is under to fit this profile and live up to her ‘name’ as a woman, let alone a famous woman.--Alexandria C.