Farewell to the sweet, hello to the sensual

Having never been a true fan of Britney Spears, I agreed to

attend her “Onyx Hotel” concert on March 15 at the Pepsi Center in

Denver with my best friend. I have to admit that I was impressed

with the concert and found that I actually enjoyed it.

It was interesting to see the different groups of people, who

varied greatly in age among other characteristics, in attendance.

Sitting a few rows in front of me was a pair of girls dressed in

the Catholic school-girl look from Britney’s first album, while

fans of her current album were wearing barely any clothes

whatsoever.

After viewing this concert, I along with the hundreds of

screaming fans in attendance came to the complete realization that

Britney is no longer a young girl but that she has grown into a

sensual young woman. This became overtly apparent during her song,

“Touch of My Hand” in which both Britney and her backup dancers

were moving in such a way that anyone past the age of puberty knew

she was referring to masturbation.

It was during this highly sexual number and the ones that

followed that I was able to look around the room and saw parents

covering the eyes of their young children. In some instances,

parents were disgusted to the point that they removed their

children from the audience entirely.

I have to admit that had I been a parent who brought my young

child to the concert, I would have most likely done the same thing.

Especially considering that in one corner of the stage you had

Britney gyrating to the music in a see-through outfit with backup

dancers in another corner of the stage gyrating with one another on

a bed.

In all honesty though, I have to say that I actually prefer this

new Britney to the old Britney. So what if she’s not suitable for

young audiences? Many of Britney’s current fans were either in

elementary school or not even born yet when she first made a name

for herself. Britney has always targeted a specific age group with

her music and it is evident that the age group that her current

music is targeted at is one in which we as college students

currently fall. After all, Britney is only a few years older than

some of us if not the same age as many of us. Britney is no longer

a teeny-bopper princess singing about how she’s “Lonely” or

“Overprotected.” Now she’s a sex symbol.

It became obvious that Britney had moved on to a new phase in

her life when she and Madonna shocked MTV viewers with their kiss

at the Video Music Awards. She’s not a little girl any more,

people, and I say amen to that. Britney could only stay sweet and

innocent for so long, but if she expected to keep the millions of

fans from when she first set foot on the stage, she needed to move

along with them. And let’s face it, in this day and age a good

portion of us are all about sex — what is sexy and being sexy.

Honestly, I couldn’t be happier to see this new Britney. I say

out with the old and in with the new, because this Britney is here

to stay, as she very well should.

Ashley is a guest columnist for the Dish. She is a sophomore

majoring in speech communication.