Ms. Spears is shown to be a hybridization of sexuality and innocence. She signifies at once the innocence of a sweet girl and the sexuality that asks you to hit her one more time.

The exact meaning of "hit me, baby, one more time" merits examination. It is clear she does not advocate violence. She's throwing an ambiguous sexual allusion to an ex-lover: A pitiful plea for subordination. The message of the lyric is clear precisely because of the image of the artist spewing it. If Madonna were to sing that line, visions of some leather-bound dominatrix would be strutting along in the video, with references to Christ thrown in for scandal.

Spears's school-girl innocence affirms that she is not inviting violence, but a failed love that has left her in this frail state to return. It is her sexual side that allows us to understand how such a young girl could be faced with such a potent infatuation. The juxtaposition of sexuality and innocence make her image effective; it also has quite disturbing implications.

Britney Spears in the "Baby One More Time" Video

The disturbing interaction between innocence and sexuality is exemplified in her first video, the aforementioned "Baby One More Time." The video begins in class, emphasizing her youth. The camera scrolls up her body, seated in a chair, from feet to head. The legs are uncovered in a skirt, inviting themes of sexuality, but her hair is pigtailed (with girlish pink bands, nonetheless) in elementary-school fashion. Further, she is wearing a school uniform dually conservative and sexy ( see Atom Egoyan's film "Exotica" for further discussion of the paradoxically inviting Catholic girl uniform); when she stands up, one sees that her shirt is tied to reveal a bare stomach. She incessantly taps a pencil on a desk, working on both phallic and schoolgirl levels.

Throughout the video, she continues to wear unthreatening colours like pink and yellow. She makes no explicitly sexual gestures herself, for it would ruin her image as inviting but denying action, as innocence always does. When the camera zooms in closer to her, she does not look directly into it because she does not own it; it owns her, as she glares up at something larger than her tiny body. She seems uncomfortable when she realizes the camera is focusing on her, fidgeting with her fingers. In the video, the viewer is invited to pounce on her discomfort as passively welcoming sexuality. Spears's album cover works much in the same way.

The Album, "Baby One More Time"

In the background is one colour: pink. It is hardly a feminine colour; it is a girly one. As in the video, it implies Spears's innocence. A further indicator of innocence on the album cover is Spears's smile. Sexual grins imply knowledge, usually the knowledge that the subject will get what (s)he wants. Hers implies ignorance of whatever stimulus is making her happy. A happy smile is not a sexual one. Her head is tilted and again her eyes look up to someone in a more powerful position. She not only embodies innocence in her youth and inexperience, but sexual passivity as well.

Her legs are bare and they are, at once, opened and closed. Her skirt is short and her figure creates a dark triangular shadow just as the inside of her thighs meet the bottom of her skirt: it is enticing and off-limits. Finally, her upper body leans forward; with the camera angle from above, a cleavage shot would be expected. But Spears is wearing a shirt and sweater only slightly opened, so as to remind the viewer of the possibility, but never the reality, of her being explicitly sexual.

Fortunately, my experience with Ms. Spears is limited to her video and album cover, thereby limiting my potential to analyze further depictions of the starlet. The overall message portrayed by her depictions, however, seem abundantly clear: not only is she innocent and sexy, but her innocence implies her sexiness. Her appeal would be greatly lessened by her engaging in explicitly sexual acts or advances; her passive reactions, however, are enough to remind the viewer that sexual thoughts are appropriate and encouraged.

Britney Spears is a pop star who answers questions about being in the Mickey Mouse Club while in halter-top and shorts. In other words, her innocent and youthful demeanor are exploited for sexual potential: a package of condoms comes from bubble-gum pop. No pun intended (that would ruin the image).

Does this article piss you off, give you shivers, make you quiver with joy?
Send Dave e-mail at dave@evemag.com.

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