Britney Spears: is this acceptable?

comet

Who goes buys Britneys Spears music? Kids
Who goes to Britney Spears concerts? Kids

Here are some pictures from her latest show. I think its totally fuked up. I wouldn't mind seeing the show as a red-blooded male but all the lines have been crossed and thats a comment for pop in general. They dress and behave like tramps to get on the front page yet they sell and are role models to kids.


http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,5-2004142909,00.html

Sleipnir

That's really not for kids by any stretch of the imagination.
I'd consider myself pretty open-minded but if that show did come to Ireland I think only those over 18 should be allowed in.

f I had a 10 year old daughter, Britney would be banned in the house after seeing that!

Lafortezza

Down with this sort of thing!
In fairness up til now she's been aimed at kids but surely she's allowed to change her image and try to attract a more mature following.

Its up to parents to know what videos their kids are watching and who's music they're listening to. You can't blame the artists for performing a certain way unless they are still advertising and promoting directly to the under-15 or whatever agegroup.

comet

Originally posted by Sleipnir
............. I think only those over 18 should be allowed in..........

There could be something in this, maybe its time these kind of performances were certified like films, from the pictures if this were a film it would be at the very least 15's

yellum

The only adults at a Britney concert are the parents of the kids or gay men. A sex-show type peformance is wasted.

She should just do a porno film and be over with it.

OT: Where are her large breasts gone ?

Zombrex

God she never learns does she

She did this before with her MTV Snake performance, and "Slave 4 u" video, being really over the top sexy and completely alienating her under 13 fan base and espeically, their parents.

Thing is Britney really wishes she was Pink or Christina because doing the younger teen-bop market is really boring and limiting. But she should have realised by now that you can't just jump from being a laughing stock of everyone over 15, to being the new Madonna.

dr_manhattan

Well, to answer the question directly, no, it's not acceptable and makes me wonder about a lot of things... but that's my opinion.

But I feel I have to add, for the sake of objectivity:

"It's not acceptable, just like the rolling stones and *their* lewd behaviour, David Bowie's drug crazed androgeny, Elvis' gyrations, the doors' public masturbation, the velvet undergrounds' heroin daze, CRASS's blend of holocaust imagery and pornography on their album covers... and basically every single thing that kids have liked for the past few hundred years"

Now, I'm not defending britney: she's beyond terrible. And I sure as hell am not putting her in the same category as any of the above artists, nooooo way.

And her stuff is lewd, and does present huge problems for parents to keep up wiuth their kids' stuff: but we must remember that there are documents available from tacitus and iuvenus, *roman* historians, detailing the shocking nature of the licentuous behaviour of the youth.

Like it or not, to our grandparents, dancing like elvis *was* a crazy thing. My ma can recall when acts that swung their pelvis or cradled the mike stand were stopped on the spot, lights off, everyone go home: and their shock was every bit as real as ours: they would have said "the bikini is one thing, but my god! that guy is miming havnig sex"

And the stones? And the free love era? And all that stuff? Maybe our kids will be offended when their kids' idols actually HAVE sex on stage, I have no idea. And if they *do* start having sex on stage, then the irony will be that they will have just copied shows that their grandparents went to see in strip clubs. Just like britney is now.

Our parents didn't know where all our wierd, happenning stuff was coming from, or " how it would end". So now we don't know the same about our kids: it's simply human nature to not understand the next generation. They make new languages, they surprise and confuse us. And as we get older, they start to scare us, if we're not lucky.

And one thing I say to my friends with kids a lot is, whatever you do, don't disapprove strongly or your kids will love it: they always love what their elders hate. Simple logic: in this way I believe I have already spared my mate the trials of tolerating his kids britney/eminem fandom: he pretends to love it. They went off it. He's lucky, I know, but hey, I felt validated.

I'd also remark at the *cheek* of the Sun or any other tabloid to talk about ethics, morals or what children should be exposed to, when they will pretty much print anything for cash. I doubt parents have a fun time explaining what a "sexy love romp" or a "paedophile scum" is to their children, either.

Or in the case of the mirror, why all the page three girls are wearing school uniforms and looking ike they've just had sex, when everyone says having sex with schoolkids is wrong. It's nuts, surely?

So that's my two cents.

Sure Britney is cheap, crap, and a lot of what she does is unacceptable. But to those who would reply "the stones didn't target kids" to this post, I would simply say "if kids back then had any money, then they would've". The music industry is not a well principled business, and trusting it to instruct your kids is a bad, bad move.

;-)

Sparks

Now I've seen everything. The Sun being the stalwart defender of decency and taste...

comet

dr_manhattan writes well. Ok so you're saying its nothing new...true...but as you point out yourself this time around it is much more sinester, its targeted at very young kids today because they have money to spend. We might look back now at the 60's and say "big deal" but i don't think in years to come we will look back and say "big deal" at pop music today. By any stretch of the imagination of a liberal mind can we ever think that 5 -10 years olds subjected to this kind of stuff is normal or acceptable!!

Zombrex

Originally posted by Sparks
Now I've seen everything. The Sun being the stalwart defender of decency and taste...

Didn't stop them putting pictures of Spears in her underwear all over the article

dr_manhattan

You make good points, comet: I have to say, I'm prepared to be devil's advocate 24/7, but defending britney stretches it a bit (insert cheap boobjob job joke here ;-))

I agree that it's worrying to have ultra young audiences exposed to this: very worrying. Hanging out with kids, my friends kids and my nephew, is one of the biggest de-stressing events I know of, and it's always great to see them, and have a laugh with 'em.

Until they start pulling all those pelvic thrust dances, and I start feeling a bit embarassed. And they start singing lyrics that are just... squirmy. Bleagh. I mean, even tame lyrics like "if you wanna be my lover"...yecch.

8 year old kids don't have "lovers". I want to play with teddy bears!

And they ask you questions about stuff that i didn't even know existed as a kid: but because I'm their parents' stoner mate (no, they don't know this, they just know I'm the goofy one with the overactive imagination) they want to talk about hip, cool stuff with me. And in return, I want to be a good influence, ya know?

So I wonder thus: should I attempt to catch up with their sensibilities, or try and educate them to mine? And what does that mean, really?

Thankfully, this is a fleeting worry, as they are not my kids so conversations with their parents are the closest I get to making these decisions: and I have to say, fair dues to them, they make their decisions well and I dunno if I could.

Cos the thing is, and the main reason I agree with you, comet, is because despite my trite liberal rhetoric, I'm not 100% sure that the 60s, the last wave of permissive attitudes re: free love and the like, the last "sexual revolution" of women wearing less clothes, didn't do a lot of damage to men and women, even in as much as it helped them.

Sexual liberation is all perfectly good for Germaine Greer and the like, who were comfortable enough to get through it with their own choices and their own terms intact. but for poor, uneducated women and men who tried and failed to make revolutionary sexual ideas work - for those who went through the motions of free love but were deeply troubled by it, for those who did the drugs and freed their minds but lost the plot in the process, being able to buy copies of "the female eunuch" is hardly compensation.

...and that situation is kind of mirrored today in the fact that it's great to see young men and women proud of their bodies and eagerly exploring what their sexuality means for them, until it's time to go home, and they're exposed to cold, hard nasty facts: there are bad people in the world. There is rape, manipulation, abuse. Showing off your body and exploring yourself counts as "asking for it" in many people's minds. Sometimes you're hated cos you're pretty. Sometimes you're hated cos you're ugly.

And sometimes grownups want you to "stop doing that" because they want to protect you, they love you and they fear for you. But sometimes they're saying it because they're embarassed by it. Or jealous of youth. Or just lazy and selfish and don't think of you as a real person.

So it's not good for me to say "listen chill out dude this is just the 60s all over again" when the 60s led to freedom and love for many, but horror and loss of self for many more. And for the majority, the 60s just led to the 70s.

Just ask Withnail ;-)

Xterminator

Is it any different to Madonna's raunchy act ?

Like a virgin etc .... the the whole S&M thing

Or kylies? She was a teeny idol turned vixen!!!

The way i see it, (a parent of 3, soon to be 4) in order to stay at the top longer, the pop acts the endure, evolve their image. Just asd Brittany had gone stale, as the young virgin singer she is now changing her marketed image.

Now i believe the parents of young viewer's are the one who are responsible to decide what is appropiate for their children to watch. However just as brittany has gotton older, so have her core fans too.


X

Nuttzz

Who buys her CD's or concert tickets or more importantly who supplies the cash to buy her cd's and concert tickets. Parents seem to have an issue with saying no to their children and then are "outraged" at certain antics.

Reminds me of the whole Man Utd jersey hoo haa, "its a disgrace that Man U are changing their jerseys again, I just bought little johnny the latest strip last year" "well then dont buy it" "ahh no I couldnt have him go out and have his friends slag him"

ykt0di9url7bc3

Originally posted by Xterminator
Is it any different to Madonna's raunchy act ?

Like a virgin etc .... the the whole S&M thing

Or kylies? She was a teeny idol turned vixen!!!

The way i see it, (a parent of 3, soon to be 4) in order to stay at the top longer, the pop acts the endure, evolve their image. Just asd Brittany had gone stale, as the young virgin singer she is now changing her marketed image.

Now i believe the parents of young viewer's are the one who are responsible to decide what is appropiate for their children to watch. However just as brittany has gotton older, so have her core fans too.


X

nail, hammer and oh yeah some head baby RAR...

mike65

Britiney is'nt acceptable in any respect!

More seriously on a wider note, I get a bit depressed at the "sexualisation" of young fans who for the most part have'nt a clue what they're doing or what signals they might be sending out to thier elders (but maybe not betters).

In that respect Spears is just another product and you could say she's just doing what her management and label tell her is required to be sucessful. If it was'nt her it would be some other ambitious kid.

Mike.

Trix

Originally posted by yellum
The only adults at a Britney concert are the parents of the kids or gay men. A sex-show type peformance is wasted.

i am neither a parent or gay but im going to see her in june. cant wait. i do agree though that the show isn't for kids. i do think that britney should be able to change her image if thats what she wants. its up to the parents what they let their kids go see.

pork99

I find it difficult to believe that anyone who has made such a profound contribution to the world of science can behave like this.

Agent Smith

the link doesn work for the sun!

loismustdie

it's not her fault who goes to her concerts, she's well past the disney queen, her songs have adult themes and parents know that she's got a sexy adult image so if she wants to perform that way she should be allowed, parents know the story with it

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

who listens to britney spears though except those 12 year old girls?

and maybe five or 6 "men"

Ivan

I think the point is that she has gone to great lengths to promote an image of herself that would attract the "impressionable" youths of today to listen to her music and come to her concerts.

Now all of a sudden she does a complete turn around on her image when she feels it will make her famous "again".

Which to be totally honest is a bit of a tricky subject.

Sure, she's entitled to change her image at whatever whim she has but it isnt really fair to the generation of "mini-sized-dressed-like-a-slut" who will follow.

Before anyone gets bright ideas about sidetracking the issue. No I'm not saying that women who dress blah, blah, blah. Get over yourself.

When it comes right down to it, its her responsibility to make sure the parents and indeed her fans themselves are aware of the nature of her "act". And she has a moral responsibility, when your (original) target audience are children, to behave in a semi-respectable way for a role-model.

weemcd

britney spears is aparently going to pose for playboy soon, if the sunday world is to be believed

ixoy

Apparently it's not acceptable according to an article in today's Irish Independent:

was shocked . . . a complete no-no
Tuesday May 11th 2004
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Mother-of-three, Angela O'Keeffe (41) from Ballybrack, Co Dublin, says her 13-year-old daughter Chloe would most definitely not be allowed to go see Miss Spears at the Onyx Hotel. Even though her children aged 13, 16 and 19 have been to a few concerts, including Blue and Westlife, she would draw the line at Britney for her youngest daughter.

"She loves Britney to listen to but she doesn't like looking at her. Maybe she's at that in-between age, she's a little bit insecure of herself," says Angela, a librarian at St Laurence's College in Loughlinstown, where her daughter goes to school.

Angela saw some of Britney on a television programme recently and was shocked. "She was down to her knickers and bra. There were fellas more or less fondling her. I wouldn't like my 13-year-old seeing that going by what I've seen on the TV and in the magazines."

According to Angela, the upcoming concert is taxing parents' minds, especially those who have already bought the tickets and are now reading the reviews, some of which present the Onyx Hotel as a den of iniquity.

At the end of the day Angela says Britney's young fans would be happy to see her in a T-shirt and a pair of jeans because they love her. However she makes the distinction between seeing Britney's antics on television or in magazines and seeing her live in concert. "With something on stage, they are so looking forward to it. They want to take in every moment of it. This is their big night and everything she does they'll come home and tell you about every change of clothes."

As a mother of three daughters Angela is aware of an awful lot of negative images for young girls out there. "Everything is sex. There's an ad out at the moment for a mortgage company and the guy is in the car on the way home with a girl saying 'I hope they're [his parents] gone to bed. My 19-year-old said to me, 'God mam, they've only met'.

"There's sex brought into everything from loo rolls to shower gel. I'd pass over a lot of it but we would talk about the different ads and I would question them about it saying 'do you think it has anything to do with the product?'. It is a constant discussion to make the difference between reality and TV."

Angela feels her daughters are more comfortable watching the boybands even if they do fancy one or two of them. With Britney she feels the concert would be a non-runner for Chloe. "She is like Madonna when she came out with Like a Virgin. Britney has taken it one step further. It's a complete no-no," says Angela.

For Chloe herself, Britney Spears is not someone she's too bothered about. "I don't really like her. I like her music and the way she dances but the way she dresses - I'm into covering up a bit more. I'd be more into boybands."

The only adults at a Britney concert are the parents of the kids or gay men. A sex-show type peformance is wasted.

Guys, to be perfectly honest you seem to have a very narrow view point on this. Myself and a few friends will be going to the concert. Its a friends Birthday and she loves Britney. I'm 27, and most of the others are in their mid 20's. Just as I went to the Avril Lavigne concert a while back, expecting to be the only adult, and found a decent number of mid 20's there to enjoy the concert for their own part. Theres alot more of a fan base for this type of music than kids, its just that kids are more likely to be influenced by it.

And who's to blame them? Just about every music star has done a video that has some sexual meaning. Robbie Williams has done a number, even Metallica has done a number of video's that have been quite raunchy. Off the top of my head, I actually can't think of a real popstar/musician that is successful that hasn't tapped into the sex industry for their videos/concerts.

Blaming Britney Spears doesn't really work. At least blame society and the way we have made society, that requires 13 year olds to dress as adults, and to experiment with sex. Sure as adults we can get all moral and go thats wrong, but at 14 I lost my virginity, and that sure as hell wasn't influenced by my parents views. It was influenced by the number of kids my age in the neighbourhood, and the desire to experiment, and to grow up fast.

Blaming the way things are on music and musicians doesn't cut it anymore. They play their music and dance the way they do, because we have asked them to do so.

WhiteWashMan

id be more worried about children watching the news these days than watching britany simulate sex.

have yet hear of dead bodies, rape, murder, genocide, peadophilia, torture, child abuse, racism or decpitation in the review of any of britany spears shows.
oh, and those are all the topics of yesterdays news.

where are you going to draw the line between what you deem is acceptable for oyur children?

oh, and how are you going to enforce it?