Britney Spears’ nude photos on Instagram have sparked mixed reactions from fans. Some are concerned about her well-being, but others have defended her right to post whatever she wants. Experts say she may be experimenting with what it feels like to be sexually on her terms. While nude photos can be empowering, they can also come with higher social costs.
When Britney Spears became more active on her Instagram account after her conservatory ended, she started posting and deleting nude photos of herself. Most recently, her “photo dump” of nudes was met with mixed reactions, as some expressed concerns for her well-being. But others defended Spears’ decision.
“I swear people forget that (Britney) spent the past 13 years in a prison of her father’s design. She missed the years when we were all terrible on Instagram and used those tacky in-app filters. She feels herself. Let her are,” user @mattxiv tweeted Monday.
Feminists and sociologists say the public has seen Spears fight for autonomy over the past year — over her body, career, finances, and future. While many facets of Spears’ life remain obscure, including clarity about existing mental health issues, experts say she has made repeated attempts to regain power by addressing the court over what she called an abusive conservatorship or through nude photos. Of her body to be placed.
Britney Spears speaks her truth. Are we listening?
In August, the singer explained that her controversial selfies were an attempt to reclaim her body after years of feeling limited, self-conscious, and powerless.
“I bet you’re wondering why I would expose my body NOW… well, it’s because I was born naked in this world, and I honestly feel like the weight of the will has been on my shoulders, and it’s made me see myself that way…I wanted to see myself more lightly…naked…as I was born,” she wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post.
Carla Manly, a clinical psychologist, says deciding what to share (or not to share) can be liberating for those deprived of their autonomy.
“When our rights are violated, and our agency is taken away, it’s very different from making a conscious, personal choice to release information or offer a selfie — whether it’s nude or not,” Manly says. “So if Britney does indeed feel that this is her time to make this choice, it can be extremely powerful because she is actively choosing to offer those images.”
‘It’s about personal choice.’
Spears, who was in receivership for 13 years, is experiencing autonomy for the first time in over a decade. Experts say she may be experimenting with her body and what it feels like to be sexual on her terms. Spears said earlier that her body was heavily checked during the conservatory and that she was forced to have an IUD.
“As we grow up, part of the journey is finding your independence, your voice, inherited from Britney,” Manly says. “So there can certainly be a conscious or unconscious desire to understand and express her needs. Or to understand her individuality and express it of her own accord.”
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For high-profile women like Spears, whose careers have been based partly on her sexual appeal, experts say showing off your body on your terms can be especially liberating. In 2016, Kim Kardashian defended her decision to post a naked selfie by saying, “My body empowers me. My sexuality empowers me. I feel empowered by feeling good about myself.” Other celebrities like Lizzo and Ashley Graham have used their social media accounts to encourage self-love and confidence.
Unlike a curated magazine cover or professional photo shoot, Manly says a casual NSFW selfie can give a “sense of control over their image.”
“Our society has many mixed messages about female sexuality,” Manly says. “If it’s done for a remarkable magazine, it’s seen as artistic. But judgment kicks in when it’s done as a personal sacrifice, and it becomes ‘exhibitionist’ or ‘controversial’. It’s about personal choice, and we choose what to show and what not to show.”
Naked selfies can empower the individual. Experts say it could come with social costs.
Sarah Leonard, a history professor at Simmons University, says women can reveal their bodies stimulatingly. But as more people take control of erotic photos and sexual content, it’s impossible to ignore that those choices are made within a culture where preoccupation with women’s bodies contributes to their objectification and exploitation.
“There are scenarios where a person can be happy with what they produce and how they get paid for it, but if we zoom out further if we don’t just think about how the one person who created the content feels, or how the single viewer who watches the content thinks about it, we ask how it contributes to social norms,” said Emily Rothman, an occupational therapy professor at Boston University who studies sexual assault and pornography. “If we’re monetizing sexuality or beauty or availability or direct access to someone, there are all kinds of things that we monetize in that situation, which can affect how people treat each other.”
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Whether posting hypersexualized images on Instagram, performing provocative dances on TikTok, or sharing pornography on OnlyFans, women in 2022 will have more control over what they share about their bodies and how. But they still have no control over how those images are interpreted or experienced once they enter the public domain.
“There is what a woman who presents an image of herself intends, and then once it starts circulating in the world, there are the very different meanings it takes, and in some ways, women can lose their power over it, says Leonard.
Rothman said that when a woman chooses to share her body as an individual action, she may also be aware of the larger social context in which she operates.
“There’s a way you can simultaneously try to resist the social norms you wish they would change,” she said, “by helping people interpret the content you’ve created, and express your hopes.” for the impact it will have.”
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Contributions: Alia Dastagir
