Britney
Whether anyone likes it or not, Britney Spears is an icon. Or at least she's built a career alluding to those who have reached such status.
With Britney, Spears is making her play for relevance. The album is her equivalent to Like a Prayer and Janet, and the icons she emulates on it are equally powerful. Spears has recast herself using the angry sexuality of "Butterfield 8"-era Elizabeth Taylor, the media savvy of Courtney Love and a Madonna-esque mission to make her dance music say something meaningful about society.
In Spears' case, she's using her assets (both her bootylicious figure and Britney's 12 songs) to dramatize young women's struggle to understand their own sexuality amid Cosmo ads, Jerry Falwell's lectures and Bob Dole's leerings. She goes about it blatantly --
