Shania Twain is opening up on dealing with body image issues after being in “abusive situations” during her younger days. In an interview with Us Weekly published Wednesday, the 59-year-old country singer got candid about how she “hated” being a woman while growing up.
Shania Twain opens up on dealing with body image issues as a teenager
“I was always insecure about my body,” the No One Needs to Know singer confessed. She revealed that “throughout my youth [I was] touched inappropriately so many times.” Twain explained that it made her feel uncomfortable in her own body.
The five-time Grammy winner shared, “I was in abusive situations where you hate being a woman.” “I hated being a girl,” she added. The trauma of it all left her wanting to become strong enough to fend off those who would try and harass her.
Twain revealed that when her mother asked about her career goals, she said she wanted to be a “bodybuilder.” “My mother goes, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and I said, ‘A bodybuilder,’” she recalled, adding, “I wanted to be a big, strong man that nobody was going to f— around with.”
The You’re Still the One hitmaker went on to say that her motivation behind becoming strong was to ensure “no one was going to touch my arm or my ass or anything unless I was OK with it.” She further revealed that she felt insecure about her body as a teenager.
“I was hiding all through my teens. I hated having boobs, I hated having hips,” Twain said. “I think a lot of that was also because a lot of the models when I was a kid were very, very thin. That was a sign of elegance and feminine beauty to me,” she added.
When asked how she overcame her body image issues, Twain said, “Once I got behind the camera and started looking at clothes and fashion, I was like, ‘Wow, I’m actually a woman after all, and I think I might like it.’”
“When I wrote ‘Man, I Feel Like a Woman!,’ it was an absolute celebration [of that]. And I felt empowered behind the camera. I was like, ‘They can’t grab me. I’m safe,’” Twain admitted.