Singer Shania Twain says she flattened her breasts as a child to protect herself from sexual abuse by her stepfather

As she unveiled her new album on July 26, 2022 Not just a girl (The Highlights)Shania Twain made rare secrets about her complicated childhood, in the columns of Timeon December 4, 2022.

Revelations that are chilling in the back. On July 26, 2022, Shania Twain unveiled a new opus and was dedicated in a Netflix documentary in which she returned, among other things, to his painful divorce. In the columns of Timethis time she confided in her very difficult childhood. Published on December 4, 2022, the article highlights the revelations of the queen of the countrywho has known terrifying periods of life.

“I hid and flattened my breasts. “: Shania Twain talks about her difficult childhood

It’s not the first time she’s spoken about it. In 2018, Shania Twain approached, during an interview granted to the media The Guardianthe violence she suffered from her stepfather, around the age of 10: “I have a feeling that sexual abuse goes hand in hand with psychological abuse when you know the person. I learned to block that. Abusers need to manipulate you, either before or after.” Very lucid about what happened to her, the 57-year-old singer again broached the subject for the Time. An interview published on December 4, 2022, in which she reveals that as a teenager, she tried to camouflage her body to escape the worst: “I hid and flattened my breasts. I wore bras that were too small for me, and I wore two, until there was nothing feminine about me anymore. To make it easier to go unnoticed. Because, oh my God, it was terrible, you didn’t want to be a girl in my house”.

Shania Twain: a message of hope behind her revelations

“I think it’s important for people to know that you can survive these things“, she also explained to The Guardian. In addition to sexual abuse, the singer suffered the violence of his stepfather and his mother who fought in front of his eyes, in their home. The couple died in a car accident in 1987, while Shania Twain was in his twenties. It was during this same period that she managed to get rid of her complexes: “I said to myself, ‘What is your problem? You know, you are a woman and you have a beautiful body. (…) You should play the glamorous singer, you should show your femininity more openly and more freely. ‘…. I think what young girls should learn too is to have confidence and show it.” A courageous life lesson.