Christina Aguilera looks back on 'Stripped' era fashion choices: 'I love expressing my sexuality'

Christina Aguilera is reflecting on her Stripped era — and the gender politics that came with it.

The "Beautiful" singer, 41, sat down with Vogue for its "Life in Looks" series, where she gave her thoughts on some of her most iconic outfits and moments over her long career. When she got to the cover art for 2002's Stripped, which included a photo of Aguilera topless with her long hair covering her chest, she recalled how she wanted the album to "embrace every different part of being a woman." That included "feeling empowered and strong" as well as "owning" her sexuality.

"There's such a rule book that [women] need to look a certain way, on a certain front, act a certain way, be sexy, not too sexy, be good girl — but not too good, because that's boring," she explained. "There's such a rule book that's handed to us. And I was given it since I was very, very little. And the older I got, the more I realized, you're either going to be a part of the problem, or you're going to stand up against it and create your own story. And that's what Stripped was about."

Aguilera added, "I love expressing my sexuality," as she did with the album’s sexually-empowering lead single "Dirrty," but didn't feel like she owed anyone an "explanation" for it.

"I wanted to go against the grain. I wanted to be anti what the rule book was, and what a pop star should look like and sound like," the Burlesque star added. "I had to take the bullets for it too. It definitely had the conservative police come after me a few times. There were a lot of boy bands out at the time, and I remember so many times [thinking] like, 'Why are they not getting in trouble for this and that, and these gestures and this onstage?' I don't even think that there was anything wrong, or upsetting or offensive about 'Dirrty' whatsoever."

Earlier this week, Aguilera revisited Stripped single "Beautiful" by releasing a new music video for the empowering ballad. The new video, created for the album's 20th anniversary, shows children facing body image issues due to what they see on their social media screens. A message in the video reads, "In the last 20 years, since Stripped was first released, social media has transformed our relationship with our bodies, and in turn, our mental health. Research suggests that time spent on social networking sites is associated with body image issues, self-hard and disordered eating in children and teens. This needs to change."

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