Britney Spears and the casual misogyny of the media

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Good morning, Broadsheet readers! The Senate moves forward with former President Trump’s impeachment trial, Michelle Obama will star in a Netflix cooking show for kids, and the new Britney Spears documentary prompts some difficult reflections. Have a wonderful Wednesday.

– Changing the frame. Has anyone else watched Framing Britney, the New York Times’ documentary about Britney Spears? I finally put it on this week—and found it every bit as essential and brutal a watch as you’ve heard.

I’m a little older than Spears, but I was definitely consuming pop and celebrity culture during her rise and heyday, so there wasn’t much in the documentary that was new to me, per se. But revisiting those events now felt like seeing them as a different person, and made me wince to think about how willingly I’d accepted the unrelenting misogyny that bore down on Spears from the moment she stepped onto the public stage.

One of the less savory artifacts of the Britney era unearthed by the documentary is a 2002 cover of Details magazine featuring Justin Timberlake (apologies—this is the best image I could find online). The cover asks: “Can we ever forgive Justin Timberlake for all that sissy music? Hey, at least he got into Britney’s pants.” And I ask: Can we ever forgive ourselves for accepting this level of casual sexism and homophobia in our culture less than two decades ago?

We are still a long, long way from eliminating those scourges—much less racism!—from our media and our lives. But I will admit that I get a little hope from the latest issue of a different men’s magazine, GQ. (The two actually have a lot of shared history. Details was published by GQ parent Conde Nast until it was shuttered in 2015 and some of its content lives on GQStyle.com) The publication’s “modern lovers” issue includes this wonderful cover story on “cross-sport lesbian power couple” Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird, who seem almost too charming to be real humans. I encourage you to read it, fantasize about being best friends with the gold medal-winning soccer icon and basketball superstar, reflect on the progress we’ve made since 2002—and what we still need to achieve.

Kristen Bellstrom
[email protected]
@kayelbee

Today’s Broadsheet was curated by Emma Hinchliffe.

ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

- Verdict's almost in. The Senate voted yesterday to proceed with former President Trump's impeachment hearing. Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski were two of the swing votes allowing the case to move forward. Proceedings will continue today. New York Times

- Big apple. New York Stock Exchange president Stacey Cunningham argues in a WSJ piece against reinstating a transfer tax on stock sales, as proposed by New York state lawmakers. Cunningham says reinstating the tax, eliminated in 1981, would risk losing New York its status as financial capital of the world. Wall Street Journal

- Michelle + chefs. The Obamas revealed the next slate of Netflix projects from their company Higher Ground Productions this week, with one notable surprise: for one series, Michelle Obama will appear on screen, not just behind the scenes. The former first lady will star in Waffles + Mochi, a cooking show for kids. She'll be the supermarket owner, alongside two puppets trying to become chefs. CNN

- Xcelerated timeline. A new program from the organization All Raise, which aims to diversify Silicon Valley, will help small private companies find women and people of color to join their boards on an accelerated 90-day timeline (such searches usually average nine months). The initiative has already helped fill board seats for a handful of startups. Business Insider

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Ho Ching, the wife of Singapore's prime minister, will step down as CEO of Singapore’s state investment company Temasek Holdings. The New York Times promoted deputy managing editor Rebecca Blumenstein to a newly created role, deputy editor, publisher’s office. Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott signed a new contract extending her tenure in the role. Former Ancestry.com CEO Margo Georgiadis joins the board of jobs platform Handshake. Former Walmart exec Monique Picou will join Google as VP, product, technology strategy, and global server operations. Zillow VP of partner success Racquel Russell joins the board of directors for escooter company Bird. Kathryn Taylor Reddy joins.406 Ventures as VP.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

- Direct deposit. This piece analyzes the plans to offer financial assistance to parents developed by President Biden and Sen. Mitt Romney. Both plans, from opposite sides of the aisle, would be a dramatic departure from past policy by providing direct payments rather than tax credits. New York Times

- Take two? The U.K. Paused its gender pay gap-reporting requirements for businesses at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Now equal pay advocates are rallying against the possibility the country could extend the lapse for a second year. Guardian

- Untapped potential. Nike and the NFL committed $5 million to bring girls' flag football to every high school in the U.S. The campaign is partly an effort to increase girls' interest in football—a market neither the athletic retailer nor the league have so far tried hard to tap when it comes to this sport. Wall Street Journal