Mckenna Morrissey is a young woman who takes up space through fashion. Morrissey is an up and coming fashion designer, who uses clothing to express herself. She talks about how important fashion was to identity. When she was younger there was a pressure to fit in and not stand out. She gradually gained confidence to dress differently when she got older.
Morrissey’s feminist collection was originally inspired by her own journey of mental health. As she started designing her pieces, she realized there were different stories and perspectives that could be generated from her creations. A lot of the meanings she wanted to show and express related to feminism. One of the most meaningful pieces she designed comes from a white sheer dress with two hands covering the breasts.
“As I was looking at it I realized the dress could also be like a metaphor of rape and rape culture” Morrissey said. “On one hand, women are expected to be sexy and expose and reveal themselves, but at the same time they have to cover up themselves and be shameful of the parts that make them a woman.”
Each woman’s steps to taking up space varies due to their own life experiences.
The question must be asked: who are these women taking up space?
Britney Spears, Amanda Bynes, Lindsay Lohan, Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus are all women who have been taking up space in their media representation, since their careers began from 1996 to now. See the timeline for more detailed information about the careers of these women and how they shaped how the media represents women.
How have I taken up space?
If I were writing a memo here’s what I’d write.
I have been told in your twenties that feeling lost is part of being young especially if you are a woman.
I know my experience will sound like America Ferrera’s speech in Barbie, but if anything it proves the individual experience of a woman is universal.
There is so much pressure as a woman to have it “all”.
What does it mean to have it all? Be strong and assertive, but not bossy. You should care about your looks but not too much or you are considered vain. You must be career oriented but do not let your work consume you. Have passion in your life but be practical about this passion. You cannot afford to waste any time, but at the same time you are running out of time. You need to be perfect but remember don’t take up too much space, only the amount the world allocates for you. How much space are women supposed to take? Why are women forced to shrink themselves while men are encouraged to be fearless leaders and are praised for taking up space in the world?
As a child you don’t consciously think about the person you want to be, you act then think. When you get older you switch, you start thinking before you act.
For the most part I felt lost and I still feel that way sometimes. Every day is an opportunity to find yourself. Femininity is fluid.
I try to take up space in most things I do. I learned at a young age that as women you are constantly in the public eye. Everything you do can be criticized, my approach to this was why not give something for everyone to talk about. I immersed myself in punk and alternative culture and attitude (specifically music), this is reflected in my clothing, hair and facial piercings.
People do look at me differently and there is a lot of judgment but I feel a step closer to who the person I felt was more aligned being. Anyone who chooses to judge me on choices I’ve made about my own body and person is not someone I want to associate with anyways. The more aligned you are with yourself the easier it is to attract similar energy. There is joy in being selective and protective with who has access to you. Part of this inner peace comes from accepting and understanding not everyone will like you.
Spears’ story holds a special place on my journey to autonomy, because she reminds me of what it is like to live your life without control, and seeing her take control of her life feels like a small victory for women everywhere. There is also a symbolic meaning to this icon. When I was a child I remembered Spears for her songs and fashion. Now, as a young woman I see her as a symbol from girlhood to womanhood.
Goals
For young women to think more consciously about how they can take up space in the world and to be more assertive with their choices –as well as give women encouragement to take up space using Spears’ journey to remind other women that although taking up space is difficult they are not alone:
What qualifies as Women Taking Up Space?
If I were to write guide on qualities women must possesses to take up space here is what I would write:
The term Women Taking Up Space requires the person to identify as a woman with the desire to rebrand herself.
Rebranding herself means stripping an identity she no longer feels aligned with, for instance Lindsay Lohan as a hot mess to Lindsay Lohan as a mature adult.
Typically establishing a new identity comes from making big changes through fashion, social and lifestyle. However, it should be noted that these changes often result in backlash or setbacks (these can be internal or external).
Many of these women had issues establishing themselves with their new and preferred identity. Their journey ranges from drugs, trouble with the law and making big lifestyle changes.
The Mean Girls’ star Lohan has struggled with drugs and has served some jail time. As a young person in Hollywood the media capitalized on her mistakes. The media framed Lohan as a wild and uncontrollable girl. 2007 was a difficult time for Lohan. She got arrested, checked into rehab, taken into custody for the possession of cocaine, went to jail and had her license suspended. Lohan turned it around in 2014 an eight part docuseries called Lindsay was released. This series explains her side of the story. In 2016, Lohan opened a series of nightclubs in Greece, in 2021 got engaged to Bader Shammas and in 2023 had a son named Laui.
Rewriting your narrative all comes to how authentic and truthful you are. People can see if you are being fake and inauthentic. Accountability plays a significant role in rebranding yourself. “If we are speaking generally, the best way to regain the public’s trust again is by owning up to the mistake and showing what you’re doing to reprimand the situation,” said Amira de Vera, founder of Project Four, a Toronto-based public relations firm. “Whether it’s spending time to educate yourself or giving back to charity, the first step is to ensure that you are owning up to what you did and slowly build from there.”
Spears was bombarded and followed by the media her entire career but the most damage was done between 1999 to 2012. The stigma around mental health back then was strong and people were less educated and aware of emotional wellness, says De Vera. “I also don’t know what her PR team’s strategy was but it almost felt like she didn’t have a team that backed her up and protected her” she said.
“I think back then it was really all about finding ways to sell her music regardless of how that was done,” De Vera said.
De Vera observes in retrospect, “It was a sleazy time in the media and unfortunately she was the collateral damage.”
In 2008, Spears’ father Jamie Spears set up two forms of conservatorship: conservatorship of the person and conservatorship of the estate.
“Conservatorships, also called guardianships, are usually reserved for people with no mental capacity, people who can’t do anything for themselves. But I was highly functional. I’d just done the best album of my career. I was making a lot of people a lot of money, especially my father, who I found out took a bigger salary than he paid me. He paid himself more than $6 million while paying others close to him tens of millions more” Spears writes.
Conservatorships tend to last a few months and are supposed to give the person under the conservatorship time to rebuild their life.
Jamie Spears’ responsibilities as the conservator of the person included: where the conservatee lives, what they eat, whether they can drive and other day-to-day decisions.
“Even though I begged the court to appoint literally anyone else—and I mean, anyone off the street would have been better—my father was given the job, the same man who’d made me cry if I had to get in the car with him when I was a little girl because he talked to himself. And the court was told that I was demented, and I wasn’t even allowed to pick my own lawyer,” Spears writes.
The conservatorship lasted for 13 years. In June 2021, Spears went to a Los Angeles probate court on the subject of the conservatorship.
In July 2021, Spears’ lawyer Mathew Rosengart filed to eliminate Jamie Spears as Spears’ conservator. On Sept. 29 of that year, he was suspended from his role. In November, the conservatorship was over.
Spears’ memoir, The Woman in Me, allows her to speak about life in the conservatorship. “But then, when it came time to end the conservatorship, I realized one thing: You can’t fuck with a woman who knows how to pray. Really pray. All I did was pray,” Spears writes.
Angela McLean, a writer and content creator, provides her thoughts on Spears’ media coverage. In general there has been a change with how celebrities are covered in the media, due to these changes this is what has helped Spears’ turn her image around.
“I think it’s gotten a bit more factual,” McLean said. “Britney talks about it in her book where she would do interviews, to be frank male journalists who would go after her, judging her on how she raised her kids. That is something that would not fly today.”
McLean said: “We kind of know now what’s more off bounce in terms of interviewing celebrities and writing about certain topics.”
The change in media coverage has also helped with the shift in Spears’ rebranding. McLean also mentions how if an unflattering article is written about a celebrity, fans of that person will call out the media. In Spears’ case many fans will support her in comment sections on social media when the media tries to frame her as crazy. Many of her fans bring up the fact that the conservatorship has been traumatizing and she needs to be left alone.
Has Britney Spears been successful in taking up space?
Britney Spears has taken up more space than she did previously, but because of how the media framed her when she was younger, people have a hard time believing she has changed.
After analyzing 15 stories and posts about Spears here are some recurring themes. These posts range from October 2023 to February 2024.
- 40 per cent of the media content is on her relationships or the men she had previously dated.
- 20 per cent is on her memoir.
- 13 per cent is on Spears’ family drama.
- 26 per cent of the content is on other topics like her mental health, knife tricks and career.
Spears during the Conservatorship
Spears was in the conservatorship and was forced to continue a music career she no longer enjoyed, forced to diet, put on medication she did not want to take, forced to attend rehab, had her children used against her as a reward for good behaviour and had an allowance despite it being her own money.
As for more personal situations Spears was limited with her interactions both in-person and over the phone. Her father claimed to have wanted what was best for Spears but that was not the case. Her lack of freedom destroyed her self esteem and made her question her identity. The situation caused a regression from adult to a child-like state. Therefore, the end of the conservatorship freed her, by giving her control of her life and to take up space, in the sense she was able to establish herself outside of her fame and family.
“My mom and dad took my womanhood from me. It was a win-win for them. I remained shocked that the state of California would let a man like my father—an alcoholic, someone who’d declared bankruptcy, who’d failed in business, who’d terrified me as a little girl—control me after all my accomplishments and everything I had done” Spears writes.
In the memoir Spears is able to express what happened to her, which helped give her a sense of control. Spears was harassed and unfairly criticized by the media. In the memoir she explains many of the things she did were taken out of context from the media, and because of the psychological abuse she received from the conservatorship she had no energy to fight the tabloids. During her relationship with Kevin Federline Spears was framed as a bad mother. By continuing to work on her career, she was seen as a neglectful mother, anyone who read her memoir can see that is not the case. When Federline was launching his music career he was seen as career driven.
All that said, Spears cannot seem to escape her labels of being a slut, crazy and a girl with daddy issues. The memoir is seen as a money grab. After years of being out of the music industry people think she is in need of money. Many people wonder why she won’t go back to work. Spears mentioned that Hollywood has ruined her ability to want to make music.
“I had to pretend the whole time I was okay,” Spears said.“If I became flustered, it was taken as evidence that I wasn’t improving. If I got upset and asserted myself, I was out of control and crazy.”
“It reminded me of what I’d always heard about the way they’d test to see if someone was a witch in the olden days. They’d throw the woman into a pond. If she floated, she was a witch and would be killed. If she sank, she was innocent, and, oh well. She was dead either way, but I guess that figured it was still good to know what kind of woman she’d been.”
In her early years she was called a slut for wearing skimpy clothes and dating multiple men. Posing naked on Instagram causes people to think she has not changed.
She said, “I know that a lot of people don’t understand why I love taking pictures of myself naked or in new dresses. But I think if they’d been photographed by other people thousands of times, prodded and posed for other people’s approval, they’d understand that I get a lot of joy from posing the way I feel sexy and taking my own picture, doing whatever I want with it. I was born into this world naked, and I honestly feel like the weight of the world has been on my shoulders. As a baby, I had my whole life in front of me, and that’s how I feel now, like a blank slate.”
The knife videos have raised concerns about Spears’ wellbeing. According to NBC News a police wellness check was issued due to these videos. Spears has always loved to dance and perform so that is not as strange.
She said, “At a certain point, I’d rather be “crazy” and able to make what I want than “a good sport” and doing what everyone tells me to do without being able to actually express myself. And on Instagram, I wanted to show that I existed.”
Her divorce from her husband Sam Asghari traps in her that image she cannot keep a man and moves on from one to the next.
“I feel like a lot of women—and this is definitely true of me—can be as strong as they want to be, can play this powerful role, but at the end of the day, after we’ve done our work and made our money and take care of everyone else, we want someone to hold us tight and tell us everything’s going to be okay. I’m sorry. I know it sounds regressive. But I think it’s a human impulse. We want to feel safe and alive and sexy all at the same time,” she writes.
Spears as a Mother vs. Spears as a Tabloid
Spears wanted to keep her children out of the media this is why she covered their faces and was overprotective of their identity. The media was set on capturing images of her children. She describes an incident when she was caught driving away with her child on her lap. In this scenario Spears wanted to get away from the paparazzi as quickly as possible. The paparazzi surrounded her and would not back off. The media presented this popstar as an irresponsible mother.
The tabloids also wrote a story about how Spears almost dropped her baby. Spears said the baby was in no danger, and it happened because she was trying to escape the paparazzi. The media published a story the following day that said Spears was unfit to be a mother.
Spears and Justin Timberlake
The memoir also calls out people in Hollywood who had mistreated Spears. One of the subjects is Justin Timberlake.
People on social media have mixed reactions to her bringing up the past. Spears admits part of the reason she never talked about Timberlake was because she was blinded by love.
Timberlake’s status as a successful white man helped him maintain a positive image in the media. He was able to spin the narrative into something that gave him career success, the end of their relationship enhanced his fame.
Spears was framed as a liar, cheater and slut when they broke up, while he was an innocent heartbroken young man. There was little negative backlash on Timberlake during the relationship and when it was over.
In her memoir, Spears mentions that Timberlake mistreated her and cheated on her multiple times. She even touches on the trauma she received from having an abortion. The reason for this abortion was because Timberlake was not ready to become a father.
When the memoir was released many news outlets focused on how they did not know she was pregnant at all. This raises the question that if she could keep her pregnancy a secret for so long what else did she have to endure?
Spears and Instagram
Spears’ Instagram account is widely known for helping end the conservatorship. Through the use of Instagram captions fans realized she needed help because her tone in captions were different. She enjoys using emojis and lots of colours. If there was a decrease in emojis fans knew Spears was no longer in control of the account.
Now, Spears’ Instagram is a platform she uses to express herself. She posts videos of her trying new clothes, videos she finds funny, quotes she finds inspiring and photos from her younger years. After being out of control of her life and body she uses Instagram to develop a sense of her identity.
Spears said, “When you’ve been sexualized your whole life, it feels good to be in complete control of the wardrobe and the camera.”
“Social media movements like #FreeBritney and even trends like #GirlDiner, #GirlMath, and #Barbiecore, are challenging gender stereotypes and norms and demanding a change in how we frame our expectations of women and, particularly in the case of Spears, the entitlement we feel towards women and their bodies. Here, we see social media publics engaging their critical thinking skills (a set of skills that is becoming more difficult to hone in the age of social media disinformation) to reflect on the range of feminist content that they’re consuming on social media. This range is offering us various depictions of femininity and of feminism,” said Brianna Wiens, an assistant professor of Digital Media and Rhetoric at the University of Waterloo.
The main takeaway from these movements are how movements like #FreeBritney allows the world to explore feminism. Feminism is not one thing, it is allowed to change. While there can be cases of hyperfemininity– such as girl-girl aesthetic, feminism is also about freedom.
Wiens said, “Similarly, #FreeBritney demanded that we stop projecting our expectations of what we wanted or expected from Spears. She deserved freedom from our entitlement to her body and our expectations of what her femininity should look like. She deserves bodily autonomy”.
#FreeBritney is a social movement used through digital activism which has sparked changes in these types of social movements. “It has ensured that activist discourses have entered mainstream conversations and have seen active debate in public spaces where they were not previously as admissible, in some cases going so far as to enable their virality in hashtag, meme, or video form,” Wiens said.
So what’s a young woman to do?
After speaking to experts and young women in the world worried about their media representation here’s what I’d recommend:
Young women are encouraged to protect themselves, set boundaries and speak up for themselves for who they are.
Taking up space can look like posting on your story, which can help spread information, your followers can be seen almost like a target audience.
Heeba Malik, a young woman who uses social media said that the power in social media comes from people being able to speak up and share their thoughts.
“I am advocating for the Palestine movement currently going on with the war and I use my platform to show the truth behind what is happening,” Malik said. “My voice can be one of many that impacts and helps the situation.”
The takeaway I would give to other young women is that you are most important and once you remember that everything else falls into place. While I grew into the person I wanted to become I did lose a lot of friends, and at times myself, but to authentically live your life as yourself I believe it was worth it.
As Spears says: “If no one is used to you being assertive, they get very freaked out when you start speaking your mind. I felt myself turning into their worst fear. I was a queen now, and starting to speak up. I imagined them bowing down to me. I felt my power surging back. I knew how to carry myself. I’d become strong, enduring that kind of schedule. I had no choice but to be strong and I think audiences perceive that.”
“It speaks volumes when you demand respect. It changes everything.”
