Britney Spears Explains Why She Shaved Off Her Hair In 2007

Britney Spears made headlines when she shaved off her hair in 2007. Fans were confused and worried about her mental health.

After nearly sixteen years, the 41-year-old pop sensation recently published her memoir The Woman in Me, in which she explained that period of her life and why she shaved her head.

“I’d been eyeballed so much growing up,” she said. “I’d been looked up and down. I had people telling me what they thought of my body since I was a teenager. Shaving my head and acting out were my ways of pushing back.”

At the time, Spears had just divorced Kevin Federline and reportedly suffered postpartum depression and a miscarriage.

The incident resulted in a narrative that painted Spears as unstable, with celebrities like Pink calling her “crazy.”

It also led to her conservatorship, which gave her father, Jamie Spears, control over her finances and career.

In her memoir, she discusses losing her autonomy. “I had to grow my hair out and get back into shape,” she wrote. “I had to go to bed early and take whatever medication they told me to take.”

It negatively impacted her mental health and career.

“I would do little bits of creative stuff here and there, but my heart wasn’t in it anymore. As far as my passion for singing and dancing, it was almost a joke at that point,” she wrote. “Thirteen years went by with me feeling like a shadow of myself.”

She is now vocal about her resentment toward her family, saying, “I didn’t deserve what my family did to me.”

She compared her experience to that of male artists, many of whom had substance abuse or mental health issues, noting that the reaction they received was completely different.

“No one tried to take away their control over their bodies and money,” she concluded.

In the book, she also called her sister, Jamie Lynn Spears, “ungrateful” for the help she has given her.