Britney Spears has a right to be naked (and so does every other mother)
Well apparently Kevin Federline still sucks.
Perhaps it was naive, but I sincerely hoped his character had evolved since the late 2000s when he enabled our Princess of Pop, Miss Britney Jean Spears, to be persistently degraded by the media during the former couple’s very public custody disputes. Though he stayed mostly quiet during the #FreeBritney uprising of 2019-2021, his 2019 filing for a temporary restraining order against Jamie Spears, Britney’s father and ex-conservator, on behalf of his and Britney’s two sons was a sign to many that K-fed could be a potential ally in the fight to end Britney’s conservatorship. If he thought Jamie was a danger to his own children, surely he’d agree that his children’s mother needn’t be subject to the same man’s abuse.
That was a reasonable assumption but, evidently, it was wrong.
Like others in the Britney orbit, K-fed waited until Britney gained her independence to begin publicly chastising her. Reports have emerged alleging that Kevin was profiting from the now-terminated conservatorship himself, however, his financial dependence on Britney was already well-documented. In 2018, his attorneys requested that Britney start paying him $65,000 per month in child support, with the justification being that Britney’s estate was earning millions of dollars per year while K-fed had no notable income. During this dispute, Britney was also ordered to pay $110,000 toward Kevin’s legal costs. Perhaps now that Britney’s a free woman, able to hire her own attorneys, there’s a financial incentive for Kevin to start making the rounds on his own anti-Britney press tour, which he apparently plans to start with multi-part interviews this week on ITV.
Though the interviews are yet to premiere in full, an exclusive report from The Daily Mail claims that K-Fed is now decidedly Team Jamie. “I saw this man that really cared, and really cares about his family and wanting everything to be OK,” he apparently says. “When Jamie took over, things got into order. He saved her life.” Asked about the restraining order he’d taken out against Jamie in 2019, he says, “I would absolutely welcome Jamie Spears back in the boys’ lives… I don't have any hard feelings towards Jamie Spears. People make mistakes.” For clarity, some notable “mistakes” Jamie’s made [allegedly] include, 1) forcing his daughter into a mental health facility against her will; 2) placing hidden surveillance equipment in his daughter’s bedroom to record her without her knowledge; 3) using software to monitor his daughter’s devices and read all of her communications, including messages to her attorney; and 4) coercing his daughter to perform labor she did not willfully agree to for his and others’ financial interest.
Kevin’s opinions about Jamie and the conservatorship are abhorrent in how he disregards his own ex-wife’s abuse, however, what’s making more headlines at the moment are his claims about Britney’s relationship with her two children, which he says has been strained since the conservatorship was terminated.
This isn’t the first time that Kevin Federline has inappropriately divulged details regarding Britney and the sons they share. Ahead of Brit’s star-studded wedding in June of this year, Kevin’s attorney informed TMZ that neither of their kids would be attending the ceremony. The news raised some eyebrows and saddened many of Britney’s fans. Maybe that was the point. The whereabouts of two children who’ve strayed far from the spotlight was never anyone else’s business, but, for some reason, K-fed’s attorney wanted this information known.
Despite Britney’s frequent claims on her Instagram that her sons do not like having their faces publicized, photos of the two boys are now littered throughout The Daily Mail’s article beside Kevin’s claim that all the censored nudity on Britney’s Instagram is having an adverse effect on his sons’ development. “I try to explain to them,” he says. “‘Look, maybe that's just another way she tries to express herself.’ But that doesn't take away from the fact of what it does to them. It's tough… I can't imagine how it feels to be a teenager having to go to high school.”
Yet again, nothing about this story needs to be public, yet Kevin made it so. And for what? If his thesis is that Britney is out of control and needs to be put back into a conservatorship for the sake of her sons, his argument thus far is both weak and disturbingly patriarchal.
Let’s assume, for a moment, that what Kevin says is true. Britney’s kids really are put-off by her occasional nudity on social media (Britney’s husband, Sam Asghari, pointed out on his Instagram story that all of Britney’s posts are “implied nudity” given her precise placement of emojis, however, I ultimately don’t think that distinction matters). As Kevin mentions their difficulties in high school, it makes sense that the boys’ peers may feel inclined to mock the decisions their mother makes with her own body. The fact that teenagers can be cruel is not a revelation, and the spotlight Britney Spears and Kevin Federline have been under since their children were born is bound to have negative effects on their kids’ social development on occasion. Even Chet Hanks has lamented the pressures of being a A-list celebrity’s son, and Tom has yet to post his nudes online.
What could have been a teaching moment in which K-fed encouraged his sons to develop productive coping mechanisms in the face of adversity, or impressed upon them the importance of respecting women’s choices no matter what they are or aren’t wearing, has now become an unfortunate example of public shaming against a mother who dares assert her own personhood.
Kept prisoner in an abusive conservatorship for over a decade, Britney Spears was under the legal restraints of her father and his team of corrupt associates for a majority of her adult life, losing most of her civil rights at the young age of 26. As a conservatee, she lost the ability to control her own schedule or drink caffeine. The only people allowed around her had to be approved by her father. According to Britney, there were times in which she was even barred from walking out her front door. Now 40 and free, Britney can be seen on Instagram sharing photos from the wedding she was unable to arrange prior to last November, hanging out in a bar for the first time in 13 years, going on vacations with the money she’d earned but couldn’t spend a year ago, or occasionally, yes, posting photos of her exceptionally fit body in little-to-no clothing.
How Britney Spears chooses to use her freedom is up to her, just like any other adult. Just like any other mother, however, she’s at constant risk of having her choices scrutinized for the potential effects they have on her children.
Across the United States, women are losing the right to exercise autonomy over their own bodies. Anti-abortion advocates have prevailed with the fall of Roe v. Wade in forcing countless pregnant individuals to give birth without access to other viable options. Though a loss of reproductive rights affects more than just cis women, it’s misogynistic attitudes about pregnant women’s personhood that incentivizes anti-choice laws. Advocates may promote slogans like “adoption not abortion,” but even if the foster care system was stable enough to make this feasible for all unwanted pregnancies, this “solution” still neglects to acknowledge what carrying a pregnancy to term means for someone’s life and body for the nine to ten months prior to delivery. Anyone who’s given birth can tell you that pregnancy changes one’s lifestyle in at least a few ways. Were you smoking pot and drinking booze a couple times a week before you got knocked up? Well you better stop for almost a full year or everyone you know will think you’re evil.
We take it for granted that pregnant women will be willing and able to make these changes once they’re “with child” because our culture’s idealized version of motherhood is one that is steadfast and self-sacrificing. Being a mom means living a life that’s devoted to your children, no matter the cost it has to your own life.
Of course, parenthood comes with responsibilities and will always involve some sacrifice, whether it be the occasional sacrifice of one’s personal time, money, serenity, or, as I’ve been told, sleep. Some sacrifices are necessary for a child’s overall health and wellbeing, but no parent should be expected to abandon every avenue of expression or fulfillment for the sake of eliminating any and every discomfort their child may feel. Perhaps Britney Spears’ kids do feel uneasy about her posing nude on the Internet, but she’s not obligated to protect them from the temporary emotional setbacks of surviving high school with a famous mom who’s sometimes horny on main. Her adolescent sons’ social standing does not invalidate her right to express herself using her own body.
I guess it was not enough that we #FreeBritney, we must also #FreeTitney and fight for a world where all mothers can express their sexuality without being shamed for it.