Britney Spears, who is 39 but treated as a child, is one such archetype and only a woman would be expected to endure it. In 2008 she was placed under the control of her father James P.
Spears after she collapsed and, under the cruel gaze of the tabloids, fled a rehabilitation centre and shaved off her own hair in an LA barbershop, which, though frightening to watch, is a fairly normal act of self-harm under stress.
It was reported that she did this after an argument with her then husband Kevin Federline over access to their children. Eventually he got $20,000 a month in child support, and she paid his bills for the custody battle.
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