Behind the scenes during the shoot for the “Lucky” music video in 2000, a moment captured by Britney Spears’ assistant and friend Felicia Culotta.
FX/TNS
I’ve always liked Britney Spears’ biggest hits, some of my longtime favorites including “Till the World Ends,” “Stronger,” “(You Drive Me) Crazy,” and “Work B***h”; however, I never knew much about the star; that is, until recently when I found myself on a deep dive of not only Spears’ music, but her personal life as well.
At the dawn of her career, Spears’ public image closely aligned with the “America’s Sweetheart” archetype: a charming southern girl who graced the world with the voice of an angel. Oddly enough, she was simultaneously massively sexualized by the media and society as a whole.
Take for example the “…Baby One More Time” music video: the song in and of itself has been widely panned as far too explicit for a 16-year-old girl to perform (though it was revealed in a 2018 profile of Spears by The Guardian that the lyrics were not intended to have any sexual or sadomasochistic undertones), the music video for the track features the underage the young starlet in an undeniably suggestive “school-girl” outfit: a short skirt, thigh-high stockings, and pigtail braids.
In any event, this image of innocence the star had sported for years would change on the evening of September 7, 2000: the night of the MTV Video Music Awards; but it was not when Spears first emerged onstage in a black shimmery pantsuit singing her cover of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” that people were outraged; rather, it was around the time the song switched to the classic “Oops!… I Did It Again,” when Spears tore away the black suit to expose a shiny, nude-colored bikini top that matched her floor-length pants.
It is only natural for a young woman of this age to want to portray herself in a more mature light in an effort to divert from her former public persona, as Spears had been in the spotlight since she was 11 and was likely still widely remembered as the young tween on “The Mickey Mouse Club.”
However, this new image Spears was trying to embody with her work was not well received by the public. Many believed her outfit was far too revealing for television, where young eyes may wander and see.
My question to people who think this way is this: shall we start banning children from public beaches and pools out of fear that they may see a woman in a two-piece bathing suit, which would be more revealing than what Spears actually wore?
The performance being one that was otherwise PG-rated, I was astounded at the clapback Spears received for it. Rare footage from shortly after the show demonstrates Spears reacting to an interviewer inquiring random people on the street about the controversial performance.
“Really, if she was such a great musician or artist, she wouldn’t have to wear such skimpy outfits to be, like, as well known and as famous,” one young girl in the video insults Spears’ artistry in addition to her attire on the night of the award show. This seems another one of the general attitudes the critics of the performance held.
Clearly, the way Spears’ career played out from that point on proved otherwise.
I must say, I am grateful that it seems we are progressing to a point in our society where we are not so quick to nitpick at women’s choice of clothing, however revealing or not, especially in a more than appropriate context.
Now, I could understand the outrage if Spears wore this to something like a funeral or wedding, but an artistic performance of a pop song seems hardly too formal for a bikini top and pants that cover the length of the legs. Women for decades, even prior to this point, have worn more revealing clothing to places like the beach, to which I doubt Spears’ critics would bat an eye.