When Christina Aguilera rebranded herself in the early 2000s ahead of her album, Stripped, she did away with the more wholesome, mainstream persona of her "Genie In A Bottle" days. Instead, she dyed her hair black, posed nude, and began releasing music that was much more sexually overt, like "Dirrty." This was obviously shocking to some audiences, especially back before feminism and ownership of women's bodies had emerged as a discussion in pop culture, but Aguilera tells Cosmopolitan in their upcoming October issue that she wouldn't change a thing.
“I love the female body, and I think it’s something to be proud of, not something that men should dictate ownership of," she said, according to Billboard. "‘Dirty’ was extremely controversial at the time, but it would be nothing now. I hope I paved the way and helped set the ground rules that women can be any version of themselves they wanna be…and proud of it.”
She previously spoke about this era before, telling Paper Magazine in March, "It was a very interesting and controversial time for me. Either women are not sexual enough or we're not fulfilling enough of a fantasy for you, but then if we're overtly sexual or feeling empowered in a certain kind of way, then we're shamed for it."
That same interview was home to another kind of rebranding ahead of Liberation's June release. The singer appeared on Paper Magazine totally makeup-free, a trend which continued, keeping her freckles on display. This move, however, was met with pretty much universal admiration. No matter what choice she makes, it's good to know Xtina stands by it.