Britney Spears

We love Britney. She's the perfectly absurd sex symbol for America's absurdly contradictory attitudes toward sex. She cultivates both a wholesome, family-values image and a lolita/jailbait tease image, and somehow manages to make the combination seem not only plausible but perfectly natural.

LA Weekly analyzes Britney's move toward a more adult, more brazenly sexual persona, perhaps to set herself apart from the wave of younger, sweeter Britney wannabes.
LA Weekly (Feb 2000)

Can you embrace abstinence and still be sex-obsessed? Britney says yes! From Amy Reiter at Salon: "So what if she's the world's most famous virgin? Britney Spears swears she's just like those sex-obsessed women on her favorite show, Sex and the City." Salon (Sep 2000)

News flash: Britney is still a virgin!. Also, a friend of one of Britney's dancers reveals that Britney has a pierced nipple. The dancer's friend didn't specify which nipple. Up-to-the-minute reports from Yahoo (October 2000).

Britney gossip! From Spin: "How does a virginal teen queen trash a hotel room? According to sources, a Boston suite vacated by Britney Spears was strewn with a remarkable number of discarded Pop-Tart wrappers. Is anybody else concerned?"
Spin (Nov 2000)

Celebrity gossip alert: Has Justin been sleeping around on Britney? E! Online's exquisitely trashy gossip columnist Ted Casablanca reported on Justin's prowling last month, and this week's update has "the curly-coiffed one" angrily grilling his entourage to find out who's been tattling.
E! Online (Nov 2000)

Britney and Justin update! In a recent interview, Justin criticized Britney for setting a bad example for her young fans. "I love her with all my heart. She's been my best friend forever, so I speak out of concern. . . She needs to recognise that there are thousands of young girls out there who watch her and think it's all right to dress like that." But Britney defends her sexy, revealing outfits because "her mother has taught her that people shouldn't be ashamed of their bodies, because they are 'a beautiful thing.'" Justin also declared that, like Britney, he's still a virgin. "It's not that I haven't had the opportunity. When a group's touring the chance comes up all the time. . . I have the opportunity that most guys would kill for and I just throw it away but it's all about love for me." Well, here at Daze Reader, we're not crazy about the whole christian conservative abstinence movement, but it's nice to see a star of Justin's magnitude publicly embracing masturbation as a valid alternative.
Megastar (Dec 2000)

Gregory Dark, the twisted genius responsible for New Wave Hookers and one of the few truly talented and imaginative filmmakers in the LA porn industry, has made a successful career transition into directing music videos. His new resume includes videos for rappers Ice Cube, Xzibit and Solé as well as teen fluff starlets Britney Spears and Mandy Moore. Now the virginal Britney has reportedly decided not to work with Dark again after learning what he used to do for a living.
dotmusic (Jan 2001)

More Britney and Justin news! dotmusic reports that "the world's noisiest sexually inactive couple" has been promoting virginity in strange ways during a recent stay in Los Angeles.
dotmusic (Jan 2001)

Britney update! The big question tantalizing fans, industry watchers and horny middle-aged men these days: Will Britney show her breasts onscreen? The new issue of Jane includes screenplay excerpts from Britney's as-yet-untitled movie project. According to this teaser in Mitchell Fink's NY Daily News column, "The story apparently stars Spears as a character named Lucy, who is just now confronting the issue of sex.'The bathroom door opens,' reads one scene. 'Lucy stands in the door, sexy in a short robe. She's nervous but manages to strut across the room towards Henry in beat to the music. She stands in front of him, takes a deep breath and drops her robe. (She) reaches up to unhook her bra. Then she stops.'" Elsewhere, the British "lads entertainment" tabloid Megastar reports that an early version of the script included a topless scene. "When the world's most famous self-proclaimed virgin heard about the scene, she was anything but happy. A source confessed: 'Britney went ballistic. She loved the script, but she was very unhappy with the scene.' . . . Now, following urgent negotiations with the film-makers, the 19-year-old has struck a deal to strip down to her underwear - but no further." Check back with Daze Reader for up-to-the-minute breaking news on Britney's boobs.
New York Daily News | Megastar (Feb 2001)

A Mother's Gift, the new novel by Britney Spears and her mom, is in stores with an initial printing of 500,000 copies. Entertainment Weekly poses the question, "A vanity project gone wrong, or a Dickensian critique of modern society?" and prints excerpts to let the reader decide.
Entertainment Weekly (Apr 2001)

Lara Riscol playfully explores the contradictions of "America's schizophrenic approach to sex" through the currently ubiquitous Pepsi commercial featuring Bob Dole drooling over Britney Spears. Britney proclaims her commitment to abstinence until marriage, and Dole once spearheaded the conservative anti-sex, pro-abstinence agenda in Washington, yet neither sees any problem in collaborating on this extravagantly titillating Lolita fantasy. Writes Riscol, "The moral of this story is muddy except that I should have purchased Pepsi stock before the Britney deal. Maybe teens can't have sex, but adults can package teen sex to sell goods and keep our economy strong. Or if you're single, and especially under 20, you can peddle sexuality, but you can't piddle your paddle. Possibly the moral is that we should either admit teenagers are sexual beings -- who shouldn't be denied information and access needed to make healthy decisions -- or stop leering at them while sipping our Pepsi."
Alternet (Apr 2001)

Field guide to telling the difference between Britney and Christina.
Misinformer

Britney Update! In the current Us magazine, Bob Dole's favorite barely legal hottie discusses the difficulties of abstinence and fends off questions about how far she's gone with Justin. "Have we had sex? That's something that, you know, I'd like to keep personal. I want to try to keep a personal life. I want to wait to have sex until I'm married. I do. I want to wait. [pause] But it's hard."
Canoe (May 2001)

Mizuke ponders the phenomenal popularity of Britney Spears and other talentless hotties. "She knows she has something people want to see (i.e., hot body, hot body, hot body, hot body!) but has no socially acceptable way to market it to the masses aside from pop music. Which is why I propose the immediate and complete legitimization of the porn industry so it can become that sexual institution this country so desperately needs. It's the only thing that stands between hardworking Americans like myself and continued decades of having to listen to horrible, horrible music being made by hot and horny girls."
Eightball Magazine

In the wake of terrorist attacks, search engines report that "sex" dropped off the weekly lists of top ten search terms for the first time ever. Perennial favorites like Pamela Anderson Lee, Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys also declined, replaced by terms like World Trade Center, Osama bin Laden and American Red Cross.
Reuters (Sept 2001)

Four teenagers broke into the Florida vacation home of Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake and stole a home video. Police quickly apprehended the hoodlums, one of whom was copying the tape when sheriff's deputies arrested him. Alas, Britney and Justin are no Pamela and Tommy. An Okaloosa County sheriff's spokesman says, "The tapes were very boring." Deputies who viewed the video said it contained ordinary vacation scenes and that Spears is not in it for very long.
Nando (Oct 2001)

Britney update! Her new single, Slave 4 U, ups the sensuality factor once again as she seductively moans lyrics like "I'm a slaaaaaaaaaaave for you / I cannot hold it, I cannot control it." The background of the song features whispered phrases like "I just can't help myself" and "Are you ready?" and "oooooooohhh." Now there are rumors that, if you listen closely, Britney whispers "I want to have sex with you" at one point. But Britney says that's totally not true! "Someone thought I said 'I want to have that with you'? I never said that." MSNBC.com has a streaming video clip of Britney's flustered denial. Britney also reveals to an interviewer that she's still a virgin: "I think it’s important to stay a virgin until you get married. It’s more special that way."
MSNBC (Nov 2001)

With the new Britney Spears CD in stores, a Chicago radio station started a contest for female listeners to win "Boobies Like Britney." The on-air promos read, "Wanna be like Britney? You first met her on 'The Mickey Mouse Club.' You've watched her GROW into every guy's fantasy slave. Now you want what she's got! Enter to win 'Boobies Like Britney' and the $5,000 grand prize!" After getting complaints, the station changed the contest title to "Body Like Britney" and stressed that the contest winner would get a makeover, not breast implants. A station manager says, "This was never about a boob job, although I know it appears that way. We were not giving away breast augmentation in any way, shape or form. We're giving away $5,000 in cash for whatever the person chooses to do with it. Britney's breasts are really only one part of her whole package anyway. There are lots of moving parts to her--her clothes, her hair, her makeup, all that stuff."
Chicago Sun-Times (Nov 2001)

Last week's Entertainment Weekly cover story looked at the contradictory appeal of Britney Spears, pop culture's foremost barely legal temptress and abstinence-until-marriage advocate. The online version runs about half the length of the print version, but does include a Britney photo gallery.
Entertainment Weekly (Nov 2001)

For Him selects the 100 sexiest music videos, including some usual suspects (three each from Madonna, Prince and Britney) and some more obscure choices (Add N to X's "Metal Fingers in My Body," Fem 2 Fem's "Obsession").
FHM

Debra at Pursed Lips tipped me to this Salon article by a father who resents Britney's influence on his daughter. "My objection is not dad-driven Puritanism, it's a gripe against the hyper-capitalism of America's massive, all-encompassing Teen Fashion/Beauty/Culture Machine, which has now moved the lower threshold of its target demographic from just pre-puberty to barely post-toddler." Nonetheless, the middle of the article wanders off on bizarrely puritanical tangents, grouping together older men attracted to 19-year-old women and older men attracted to preadolescent girls as equally "creepy," "pervs," "kiddie sex" fiends and such.
Salon (Dec 2001)

Debra prefaced her link to the previous story with "I'm not one to pounce on every Britney Spears sex kitten story, but ..." Unlike some sex bloggers we know! For those who never tire of Britney gossip, People reports: Britney Gets Stripper for Birthday. "The performance took place at Solaia, an Italian restaurant in Englewood, N.J., after the pop star's concert at Continental Airlines Arena. Also in attendance as stripper Steven Peters did his bumps and grinds: Britney's parents and 10-year-old sister Jamie Lynn. Peters told the Post Spears giggled and blushed her way through his routine, while her mother, Jamie, enjoyed it so much that she reached out and touched the beefcake's biceps and buttocks." The stripper reveals, "Britney was blushing and had a big smile on her face the whole time. She told me, 'This is the best birthday present I've ever gotten!'"
People (Dec 2001)

A recent gossip item making the rounds suggests Britney Spears is no longer a virgin. Since the New York Post takes down their old stories after seven days, here's the relevant passage:

She's not that innocent — Britney Spears has reportedly confessed to no longer being a virgin. The sultry 19-year-old singer was overheard at an awards party boasting about her sexcapades with N'Sync boyfriend Justin Timberlake, according to London's News of the World. "Justin and I have great sex," the pop diva gushed to a dancer at a recent backstage bash in New York. "We're just like any other couple but I don't like talking about it publicly."

Back when she was a virgin, she liked talking about it publicly all the damned time. Here at Daze, we believe Britney owes it to her fans to provide details.
New York Post (Jan 2002)

Britney update! Popdirt passes along this questionable but entertaining tabloid item:

The Globe reports Britney Spears has been reading books and watching videotapes on the art of lovemaking so that *NSYNC fiancee Justin Timberlake won't be disappointed with her on their planned Valentine's Day wedding at Britney's home near New Orleans. A pal of Britney told the tabloid, "Britney jokes about not taking her sex books out of the house. She says, 'I don't want Justin to know I'm learning to be a tiger in bed. I want it to be a surprise on our wedding night.'" As for the status of their sexual relationship before marriage, a friend said, "Of course Britney and Justin already have a physical relationship, but they haven't gone all the way and don't plan to until their wedding night."

OK, this hardly warrants debunking, but ... if Britney and Justin were really planning a Valentine's Day wedding, don't you think there'd be a little more media coverage?
Popdirt (Jan 2002)

The A to Z of Britney: "A is for America, which Britney nubilely, precociously, go-gettingly embodies. The country is a permanent adolescent like her; she enacts its brash, mercenary dreams and its constitutional guarantee that everyone's wishes will come true."
The Observer (Feb 2002)

To demonstrate its spelling correction system, Google lists the hundreds of alternate spellings of "Britney Spears" used in recent search requests.
Google

In case anyone was still wondering about the "Is Britney Spears a virgin?" question . . . Justin Timberlake reportedly bragged to a fellow airplane passenger that he had sex with Britney during their relationship. "Everyone thinks she is still a virgin but that is a joke. She lost her virginity a while ago — and I should know." I forwarded this story to a gossip-hound friend, whose immediate response was "What a cad!" I agree.
Yahoo UK (May 2002)

British columnist Zoe Williams takes the hardly surprising "Britney's no virgin" revelation as a launching point to lambaste the American abstinence movement and abstinence-only sex education.

Brit's virgin stance isn't a quirk of her own. The whole No-Sex-For-Me-Please! number isn't even limited to fellow members of her happy-clappy Baptist clique. Teens all over America are taking virginity pledges, acting out abstinent role-plays (they mainly go "No! No, no, no!" - it's not a very imaginative movement), and scrawling True Love Waits on their exercise books, rather than Nikki 4 Brad 4 Ever!!!!

This is London (May 2002)

If this is true, the Daze office might just have to get cable hooked up.

Britain's Star newspaper reports Britney Spears will raise the bar further in her next video, which will have her dressed up in bondage gear. A friend said: "She's got whips, leather corsets, handcuffs, fishnets and five-inch stilettos." They also report she's trying to get Madonna to appear in the video for her single 'Obey Me'... Strange, since there is no track on 'Britney' by that title, unless it's for a new album?

Yes, Mistress Britney! Found second-hand at the essential Britney news wire at Abstracts.
Abstracts (May 2002)

According to an article in one of the supermarket tabloids (picked up here in a South African newspaper), Britney loves lesbian porn and has become buds with pornstar Jenna Jameson. (Aug 2002)

Oh! my! god! Oliver Willis has photos of Britney modeling Versace at Milan Fashion Week. (Oct 2002)

Britney Spears

Sponsor Ads