Shania Twain says that when she was young, she tried to “flatten her boobs” to avoid her stepfather, who was sexually abusive.
I hid myself and I would flatten my boobs,
Twain revealed this in an interview with a source.
I would wear bras that were too small for me, and I’d wear two, play it down until there was nothing girl about me. Make it easier to go unnoticed. Because, oh my gosh, it was terrible — you didn’t want to be a girl in my house.
The country singer grew up in Ontario, Canada, with her mother Sharon, and stepfather Jerry Twain. She was one of five siblings.
Twain told a source that she would fight back against her stepfather and that she once used a chair in a fight.
I think a lot of that was anger, not courage. And it took a long time to manage that anger. You don’t want to be somebody that attacks me on the street,
she told the publication.
because I will f—ing rip your head off if I get the chance.
During the interview, the singer went into detail about what she did to hide her weight.
I would wear bras that were too small for me, and I’d wear two, play it down until there was nothing girl about me. Make it easier to go unnoticed.
And the change to adulthood was made even harder by:
But then you go into society and you’re a girl and you’re getting the normal other unpleasant stuff too, and that reinforces it.
So then you think, ‘Oh, I guess it’s just s—ty to be a girl. Oh, it’s so s—ty to have boobs.’ I was ashamed of being a girl.
When her stepfather died in a car accident when she was 22, Twain said she felt safer. Shania didn’t change the way she felt about her body as her career took off, and the expectations of women in music kept making her feel “used.”
All of a sudden it was like, well, what’s your problem?
she recalled.
You know, you’re a woman and you have this beautiful body? What was so natural for other people was so scary for me. I felt exploited, but I didn’t have a choice now.
Even though she was becoming famous for songs like “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” that celebrated girl power, Twain said she still found it hard to accept her femininity and love her body.
I had to play the glamorous singer, had to wear my femininity more openly or more freely. And work out how I’m not gonna get groped, or raped by someone’s eyes, you know, and feel so degraded,
she explained.
Shania finally got more confident in her 20s and learned how to use that confidence to keep herself safe.
By the time I had my record contracts I was the kind of woman that … when I walked in the room, it’s like, don’t even get any closer,
she shared with the publication.
It was clear in my body language. And I think maybe what young girls can learn too is to exude that confidence.
The five-time Grammy winner fell in love with her body in the end.
I was never an exhibitionist for the sake of, like, saying, you know, ‘Look at my tits,’
she said that her style and clothes felt on purpose because of how she felt about being a woman.
It was really me coming into myself. It was a metamorphosis of sorts.
I am celebrating escaping this horrible state of not wanting to be who I am. And I’m so confident. Now that I discovered that it’s OK to be a girl,
she said.
The unapologetic woman is a very powerful person indeed.
If you’ve been abused and need help, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, go to thehotline.org, or text LOVEIS to 22522 if you can’t talk safely.
The number for the National Sexual Assault Hotline is 800-656. HOPE (4673) helps people in need for free, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
