Shania Twain Talks Embracing Her Curves After ‘Flattening Out’ Her ‘Chest’ While Growing Up

Shania Twain is looking back on writing her hit song “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” from her 1997 album, Come On Over.

In a Rolling Stone interview published on Wednesday, July 22, the Queen of Country Pop, 60, was asked about creating the female empowerment anthem, which became one of the biggest hits of her career.

Twain said that the tune “was empowering for women,” which is how she felt when writing it.

“But it really went so far beyond that,” the Canadian singer-songwriter added. “It’s a celebration. I wrote it from the heart. I wasn’t trying to be tricky. I didn’t have an agenda. It was just, ‘I’m really coming into my own here. I’m really enjoying my curves.’”

Twain, who was 32 when Come On Over was released in November 1997, said she learned how to embrace her body throughout the years — and “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” was a celebration of that.

Reflecting on her younger years, she explained, “I grew up flattening out my chest, and I wanted to make sure they didn’t bounce when I walked, or when I played football, I’d do bras and loose pants, track clothes.”

“I just thought, ‘Wow, I’m so over that! I’m like a late bloomer, I gotta enjoy these curves,’” Twain continued. “And I really started to embrace that when I started making videos.”

“That’s when I realized, ‘I am so far behind, I got some catching up to do, and, man, I feel like a woman, I’m going to just enjoy it all the way,’” she added.

Written by Twain and her longtime collaborator and then-husband, Robert John “Mutt” Lange, “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” won Twain the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.

Twain’s seventh studio album, Little Miss Twain, is scheduled to be released on July 24.