This is the first episode of Not a Phase, a weekly video series where Jezebel remembers some of the most delightfully cringeworthy phases of a celebrity’s life, even though they would probably like us to forget. When Christina Aguilera released her album Stripped in 2002, she bid adieu to her flirty girl-next-door persona and ushered in the era of Xtina: her hyper-sexualized revamp with a Donald Trump spray tan and an “urban” (we all know what that means) edge. In the video above, Jezebel takes a look back at Aguilera’s short-lived transformation and how Stripped’s empowerment message was at times overshadowed by the power of shock value.
