So we mourn. Nov. 7, 2006 will go down in history as a day of great change: the day when the American people flexed their given right to forge the course of politics — and the day that Britney Spears filed for divorce from Kevin Federline.

Is one more important than the other? Duh. But that doesn't mean that the Congressional Record is going to be outselling In Touch this week. And Americans have certainly been primed to sniff the dirty laundry of this country's most infamous couple. For weeks, the collective nose has been rubbed in the soiled garments of political candidates via that storied institution known as the attack ad.

Compared to campaign-trail accusations, Britney's divorce papers are rated G. The 10-page document filed in Los Angeles on Tuesday offers a collection of boxes marked with Xs and eerily resembles a ballot. The brisk lawyerese gives no hint to the fiery relationship. "Dissolution of marriage." "Irreconcilable differences." "Assets and debts."

Whether this is a stunt to pump K-Fed's limp new record "Playing with Fire" remains to be seen. Regardless, it will be feeding the media maw for weeks. Which begs the question: Why are we so hungry for the drive-thru, super-sized double cheeseburger that is Brit and Kevin?

The Britney/K-Fed merger sucked us in for a variety of reasons. The most obvious: People of questionable taste with loads of money are always amusing (see Antony/Cleopatra, Elvis/Priscilla, Posh/Beckham, Whitney/Bobby and most episodes of MTV's "Cribs").

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NO SCRUBS

But there's more to our fascination.

Perhaps underneath the veneer of Britney's do-me pop, her marriage to Kevin Federline offered a view into her stealth feminist side. Or perhaps his.

Their dynamic is one not often seen in popular culture. Think about it: Traditional gender stereotypes in our society lean toward women marrying men who can offer a jump in socioeconomic standing — and men marrying women at equal or lower ones.

In fact, a 2004 University of Michigan study found that men prefer to have relationships with women in subordinate jobs rather than women who are bosses. (Women, the study found, showed no preference in either direction.)

Britney and K-Fed flipped it: Federline was a backup dancer, and she was the star of the show. If you want to get cynical, you could surmise that this was not simply a result of love dust sprinkled in the air.

Spears has been a top-selling artist since her teens. The last thing she needed was to be beholden to someone else's whims. A relationship with her exact equal, Justin Timberlake, fizzled.

Federline, meanwhile, was forthright about his supplicant role. Just a few weeks ago, he told The Associated Press: "Her influence on me has been really big. She's a strong woman and she knows what she wants out of life and that helps build a strong man. I look up to you, baby."

Meanwhile, in the famous "Dateline" interview this summer, Spears explained what she found so attractive about Federline. Asked by Matt Lauer why she liked her husband, she retorted: "He's so simple. His simplicity, and just he's like a boy."

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MANIMAL HUSBANDRY

It's no secret that Spears is focused and has mapped out her career and life with great care. In People magazine, she called becoming pregnant her "ultimate goal." And two days after her wedding on Sept. 18, 2004, she told the magazine, "I want to be a young mom. Next year, at 23, I'm so there."

Almost exactly a year after she married Federline, she gave birth to her first son — at age 23 (natch). She told People, "I find being pregnant empowering." Then, almost exactly a year later, as if on a factory schedule, she gave birth to her second son on Sept. 12, 2006.

Though it seems clear that Spears was the power player in the couple, others saw Federline as a male version of a vagina dentata — a vagina mentata, if you will.

The term — Latin for "vagina with teeth" — represents emasculation. Yoko Ono was labeled as such by those who believed she broke up the Beatles. Similarly, some blamed Federline for impregnating Spears, taking her off the performance circuit and inflating her smoking figure. A MySpace group called "Kevin Federline's Hate Club" features forums with titles such as "Kevin Out To Ruin Brit's Career." On his new record, Federline fires back: One song is called "America's Most Hated."

We'll never know for sure whether the marriage was a calibrated way for Britney to further her own personal goals, a calculating way for K-Fed to further his own personal goals or the rush of young love running wild. It's that ambiguity that has kept us glued.

But here's one clue to the real story. On Tuesday night, just hours after her divorce papers were filed across the continent, Britney was seen at Rockefeller Center in New York.

She was ice skating gleefully.

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Caryn Brooks is asap's Arts and Entertainment editor. Julie Reed provided research assistance for this article.

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