Christina Aguilera slams critics fixated on her body and sexuality: 'I just don’t give a f--- about your opinion'

Aguilera also spoke out against her early image in pop culture: "I didn’t love the bubblegum thing, where you had to play a virgin but not act like one."

Christina Aguilera thinks body-shaming is a dirrty pair of words.

The Grammy-winning pop icon has slammed critics she feels have fixated on her body and sexuality across the last 25 years since she dropped her debut single "Genie in a Bottle."

“I have a maturity now where I just don’t give a f--- about your opinion," the 43-year-old told Glamour during a discussion about public obsession with her weight. "I’m not going to take it on. It must be your responsibility to take up your space. Other people’s opinions of me are not my business.”

Following the release of 1999's "Genie in a Bottle," Aguilera said she developed a complex in which her self-esteem coincided with “how skinny I was,” she told the publication.

“When you’re a teenager, you have a very different body than when you’re in your 20s,” she said. “I started to fill out, and then that was unacceptable because it was like, ‘Oh, she’s getting thicker.’ Then I had industry people: ‘They liked your body and how you were as a skinny teenager.’”

The performer has regularly referenced these kinds of issues in her music, too, particularly on her Stripped standout "Beautiful" and her Demi Lovato-assisted Liberation lead single "Fall in Line."

While Aguilera was heralded for her once-in-a-generation voice, she also admitted that she felt stifled by the public image she adopted for her mainstream breakout on her self-titled debut studio album.

“I didn’t love the bubblegum thing, where you had to play a virgin but not act like one,” recalled Aguilera. “When I was performing ‘Genie’ and ‘What a Girl Wants’ and ‘Come on Over,’ I got bored easily. Creatively, it was one-dimensional.”

Related: Christina Aguilera producing Burlesque stage musical based on 2010 movie

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She also noted that she got "burnt out" by sticking to a regimented appearance and performance schedule, and later learned to adopt a creative and professional slate that suited her and her family.

Now, despite working on a new English-language album (her last effort, 2022's Aguilera, was released in Spanish), Aguilera confirmed that she has no immediate plans for a proper tour, mainly because she wants to remain present for her family.

“I don’t want to say that out loud because my fans would be very sad," Aguilera said. "But I truly do enjoy being home base and accessible to my kids."

In addition to her work in music, Aguilera also acted in several projects throughout her career, including opposite Cher in 2010's Burlesque, which she's currently producing a stage musical adaptation of alongside the film's director, Steven Antin.

Related: Ex-MTV VP says Christina Aguilera's team asked to have VMA performance re-edited to include Madonna kiss

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly for Burlesque's 10th anniversary, Aguilera also noted the importance of finding a proper equilibrium between work and life.

"I'd been presented other acting and movie opportunities, but was holding out for something that felt right," she said in 2020. "Timing can play a big factor in balancing between album and touring cycles."

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