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All before the age of 20, Christina Aguilera was making waves in the music industry. She signed a record deal with RCA before releasing her first self-titled album. She later won a Grammy Award for Best New Artist. You would find it surprising however to learn that the “Fighter” singer felt most self-conscious during her skyrocket to fame.
Speaking with Health, the now-40-year-old reflected on her early career and the insecurities she felt with her body.
“I think we all have our good days and our bad days in how we feel about ourselves,” she told the publication. “Entering this business, I hated being super skinny. Once I turned 21, I started filling out a little bit, and I was loving my new curves. I appreciated having a booty. I’ve always said that women are way more interesting to look at than men! I have a hard time looking at the early pictures of myself because I remember feeling so insecure.”
While it is often said our 20’s are some of the best of our lives, Aguilera doesn’t wish to relive those years. Instead she believes age and wisdom are the keys to self-acceptance.
“I would never want to relive my 20s—you’re so in your own head and finding your confidence,” she continued. “As you age, you stop comparing yourself to other people and start appreciating your own body and owning it.”
Now more than ever social media has shed a light on life’s highlight reel and further preys on our own insecurities. Last week Khloé Kardashian was criticised after she worked to have an unedited image of herself scrubbed from the internet. She believed it was beautiful but cited her own body image struggles as the reason to have it removed. Ultimately she further enabled the toxic social media culture to continue.
For Aguilera, she hopes to teach her children, Max, 13, and Summer, 6, the importance of self-love from an early age.
“I am really careful if my daughter is there when I am doing photo shoots,” she said. “I want to make sure that when she sees Mommy in hair and makeup that she realises that’s not what’s important. If she needs my attention, I stop everything and look into her eyes and listen to her. I want to make sure she understands that this is part of Mommy’s work, but that it’s what I create that matters more. There’s no right or wrong way when it comes to my kids. I just really try to encourage them to be their own selves.”
Last month GRAZIA spoke with actress and activist Jameela Jamil who echoed these comments, urging women to think twice about what they’re consuming in the media.
“I really urge young women out there to be careful about what they’re reading, what they’re seeing online, who they’re following and whose words they’re listening to,” Jamil said. “[They need to] re-educate themselves about the capitalist system that has been built to destroy their foundation of self-worth.”
We can only hope these messages of body positivity continue.
