Ejercicio Grupo A - 2 · Inglés PAU Canarias Junio (Ciencias) 2024

GRUPO A

Britney Spears’ book is an angry warning

American singer Britney Spears has recently published her autobiography, The Woman in Me, a moving story about a woman subjected to close observation and ridicule throughout her life. As an example, when she was a teenager, journalists repeatedly asked her questions about her breasts and her sex life. As an adult, she was “imprisoned” under a conservatorship* supervised by her father, which took away her most basic human rights for 13 years. During that time, she was not allowed to see her two sons without permission, she could not choose her food or drink and her driving licence was confiscated.

In her book, Spears tells us how, as soon as she exploded onto the pop charts in 1998, the press refused to believe she had any real value as an artist. Since her songs were written for her, she was perceived as a product and puppet of the music industry, not as an autonomous person. Spears’ publicists infantilised her. “No one could seem to think of me as both sexy and talented,” she explained.

Spears’ memoir also recounts her relationship with Justin Timberlake and how, after a devastating abortion, Justin Timberlake left her. A break-up that only increased the appetite for gossip about Spears’ personal life: the media obsessively chased her. Eventually, the pressure became too much, and in 2007, Spears decided to cut off her hair. However, instead of seeing this as an act of strength or rebellion, Spears’ action was used as evidence of instability. Within a year, she had been placed under the conservatorship. Nevertheless, Spears’ writing turns particularly angry when discussing her father, whom she describes as an alcoholic and a failed businessman, as well as an “irresponsible” and “cold” figure who pushed his children too hard and was abusive to their mother.

In her biography, the superstar emphasises that she continued with her career despite her difficulties. The singer carefully documents the millions everyone else made thanks to her work while she was given a strict budget of $2,000 per week.

The revealing book tells how the turning point came when a kindly nurse showed her images of fans discussing the Free Britney movement. Then, with renewed courage, she hired a new lawyer and was finally liberated from the conservatorship system two years ago. But The Woman in Me reveals that there was no happy ending. Although she is free now, it will take her years to recover from the after-effects. What remains, not for the first time, is a cautionary tale about fame and the corrupting influence of money, and bad news for fans hoping to hear Spears’ new music. “My music was my life, and the conservatorship was deadly for that; it crushed my soul,” she admitted.

* Conservatorship: A legal order that the court dictates when a person is considered incapable of managing his or her life and consequently appoints another person to do it.

Fragment adapted from the BBC, October 2023

2. ANSWER the questions below. COPY no more than 10 words and/or a number from the text to answer each question. [1.5 points]

a)

How long did the legal order that controlled the life of the famous pop superstar last?

b)

How was Spears’ radical transformation in appearance interpreted by the press?

c)

Who helped Britney Spears to put an end to her conservatorship?