#FreeBritney: How Britney Spears’ conservatorship has been abused by her father.

After a lengthy 13 years of having complete control over Britney Spears’ life, finances and career, Jamie Spears has agreed to step down as the conservator of his daughter’s estate, and it’s about time.

This resignation didn’t come from the (nonexistent) good of Jamie’s heart, though. It took Britney filing for her father to be removed from his position and charged with conservator abuse, along with a viral #FreeBritney social media movement that’s lasted four years to raise awareness for the abuse that Britney has undergone.

Like anyone else with immaculate music taste, I’ve always been a Britney fan. Growing up in the 2000s meant “Toxic” playing on the radio on my way to elementary school, and again when I scurried off to soccer practice. 

Since her music’s been played to me throughout my life, I’ve kept up with Britney’s life and watched the past few years of her conservatorship play out. 

Various social media trolls claim that she’s privileged and shouldn’t complain. But they’re missing the point. People don’t just file for conservator abuse, and movements don’t just break out over nothing. Something big must have led her to sue her own dad, and it did.

On Feb. 5 of this year, “Framing Britney Spears” premiered on Hulu, offering one of the most detailed and comprehensive accounts of what Britney has dealt with. Including her public 2008 breakdown, which led her to be placed under a 5150 psychiatric hold — an involuntary 72 hour hospitalization — and then a conservatorship overseen by her father.

Since her estranged father became overseer of what has slowly became her entire life, things have gone even more downhill. Britney accused Jamie of using her for his own financial gain and abusing his power to “control” her entire life, according to NPR.

Since being under his control, Britney has released hit albums, toured the world and been the popstar that we all know and worship. But throughout all of this, she’s been forced to take medication — like lithium — and has been told by an overseer that she can’t get married, have children or get her IUD removed, according to The Rolling Stone.

Since Spears confirmed speculations that her conservatorship was abusive, the #FreeBritney movement that sparked in 2017 has blossomed into a camaraderie of fans supporting her at hearings and investigating her Instagram posts to find signs of Britney’s distress. 

People my age and older grew up with Britney, whether that meant listening to her songs or watching her traumatic year in 2008. But the most tragic part of it all is that Britney’s abusive case isn’t the only one out there.

During her testimony in June, Britney briefly noted the wider amount of broken conservatorships by saying, “We can sit here all day and say, ‘Oh, conservatorships are here to help people,’ but, Ma’am, there’s a thousand conservatorships that are abusive, as well.”

She’s right, and, according to The New Yorker, her case isn’t uncommon. With the rules surrounding conservatorships right now, they can be  meticulously construed into a profitable scheme for conservators.

Not only that, but with the stigma around mental disorders, victims of a conservatorship are automatically labeled as unable to take care of themselves. Just because people need help managing their finances doesn’t mean that they can’t function as a normal human.

We can’t forget about Britney’s case. If we forget about hers, we’re turning a shoulder to every other victim of an abusive conservatorship. #FreeBritney.