Now that Drew Barrymore and Christina Aguilera both have preteen daughters, they’re coming up on one very hilarious challenge: how to tell their girls they can’t wear crop tops when they themselves have posed for Playboy and worn assless chaps over the years, respectively.
Aguilera joined the talk show host on Tuesday’s episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, where she opened up about how she has “age-appropriate” conversations with her two children, Max, 16, and Summer, 9, about the history of abuse she faced in her childhood. The pop queen shared that she takes an “honest” approach “across the board” with her kids, whether they’re discussing gender and sexuality, politics, or anything else.
And while Aguilera noted that she and Barrymore are “very free-spirited people anyway,” it seems Barrymore’s daughters, Olive, 11, and Frankie, 9, have the snappiest response to their mama when they want to test the boundaries a little bit.
“My daughter wants to wear a crop top,” Barrymore shared. “I’ll say ‘no,’ and she’ll go, ‘You were on the cover of Playboy.’”
Aguilera laughed, adding, “I love that she said that though.” In her own experience, it seems the singer knew she’d be facing the same dilemma someday down the line when she famously wore risqué outfits early in her career.
“Well, I knew it was coming the day I wore chaps. I’m like, ‘One day, I know I’m going to be like… ‘cause my daughter wants to wear a crop top, too,” she continued. “And I’m just like, ‘Can we just pull it down?’ I see myself doing that.”
So when those conversations come up, Aguilera says she doesn’t want to “scare” her daughter in any way. “I think it’s important for her to have a strong sense of self but also to be very empowered with her body and eventually will be her sexuality, so I want her to just really know herself first.”
“Even when you take it back to chaps or even you on Playboy, we were expressing ourselves and how we felt was best for us I think at the time,” she said. “And that was empowering. We didn’t do it for someone else. And then there’s so many labels and judgments saying like, ‘Oh, you’re doing it for a guy.’ No, you’re making it about that narrative in your own head.”
“It’s empowering being a female and embracing your body and everything that makes you feel good or womanly,” she added. “However that is for yourself to be able to embrace that.”
Barrymore agreed, noting that she “loved every minute of it.” She also praised Aguilera’s approach to parenting, adding, “You are such a good mom and I’ll tell you why. To encourage sane, strong, empowered, healthy body image and sense of self is something that is so powerful. Hearing you say this is exactly what I needed to hear.”
TBH, we agree. We also needed to hear this and we love that these two are raising their kids with the body- and sex-positive approach we all wish we had growing up. More of this, please!
