Editing Shania Twain (section)

== Public image and reception ==
[[File:Shania Twain Glaston2024 2806 300624 (26 of 173) (53838111680) (cropped).jpg|thumb|347x347px|Twain was criticized for her independence and sexual expressiveness.]]
Despite her success, Twain has been a divisive figure within country music among purists who initially did not take kindly to her "genre-blending".<ref name="Vitagliano-2021" /> According to biographer Stephen Thomas Erlewine, most critics accused her of "diluting country with bland, anthemic hard rock techniques and shamelessly selling her records with sexy videos."<ref name="Erlewine" /> Some country music critics dismissed her music as not being country enough, which some fans theorize resulted in her breakthrough album ''The Woman in Me'' being snubbed at the 1995 Country Music Awards, despite its widespread success.<ref name="Paxman-2020" /> Similar to [[Garth Brooks]] before her, she was initially branded an interloper whose modern production, presentation and songwriting "disrupt[ed] the genre's status quo".<ref name="Hight-2018" /> During the 1990s she often received backlash for her unconventionally liberated appearance as a country music singer.<ref name="Malkin-2020" /><ref name="Koo-2013">{{cite web|last=Koo|first=Sarah|date=November 6, 2013|title=Shania Twain Weighs In On What's 'Too Sexy'|url=https://etcanada.com/news/9440/shania-twain-weighs-in-on-whats-too-sexy/|url-status=dead|access-date=September 2, 2021|website=[[Entertainment Tonight Canada]]|archive-date=September 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902151656/https://etcanada.com/news/9440/shania-twain-weighs-in-on-whats-too-sexy/}}</ref> Despite the breakthrough success of ''The Woman in Me'', early detractors did not take her seriously as an artist, with several music journalists questioning her lyrics, the "[[Overproduction (music)|manufactured]]" production of her albums, and her singing ability.<ref name="Bell-2015">{{Cite news|last=Bell|first=Sonya|date=June 4, 2015|title=Thank you, Shania Twain|work=[[Maclean's]]|url=https://www.macleans.ca/culture/arts/thank-you-shania-twain/|access-date=September 2, 2021|archive-date=September 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902071904/https://www.macleans.ca/culture/arts/thank-you-shania-twain/|url-status=live}}</ref> Such critics concurred that she had little to offer apart from her sex appeal and music videos,<ref name="Bell-2015" /> often focusing on her physical appearance instead of her music.<ref name="Vitagliano-2021" /><ref>{{cite web|last=Miller|first=Madison|date=July 27, 2021|title=Shania Twain Speaks Out on Being Called 'America's Best Paid Lap Dancer' in Early Nashville Days|url=https://outsider.com/news/country-music/shania-twain-speaks-out-being-called-americas-best-paid-lap-dancer-early-nashville-days/|url-status=live|access-date=September 9, 2021|website=Outsider|archive-date=September 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910020327/https://outsider.com/news/country-music/shania-twain-speaks-out-being-called-americas-best-paid-lap-dancer-early-nashville-days/}}</ref> Early in her career she found herself at odds with the conservative opinions of the country music industry at the time due to her assertive personality and proclivity for wearing revealing outfits that exposed her [[midriff]].<ref name="O'Connor-2020" /><ref name="Koo-2013" /><ref name="Nash-2020">{{cite web|last=Nash|first=Alanna|date=February 3, 2020|title=Shania Twain's Career Comeback|url=https://www.aarp.org/entertainment/celebrities/info-2020/shania-twain-regains-her-voice.html|url-status=live|access-date=September 2, 2021|website=[[AARP]]|quote=the midriff that once put Nashville traditionalists in a dither.|archive-date=September 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902155329/https://www.aarp.org/entertainment/celebrities/info-2020/shania-twain-regains-her-voice.html}}</ref> She was constantly deprecated for baring her midriff to the point where critics nicknamed it "The most famous midriff in Nashville",<ref name="Vitagliano-2021" /> while [[CMT (American TV channel)|CMT]] banned the music video for her debut single "What Made You Say That".<ref name="Bell-2015" /><ref>{{cite web|date=October 16, 2013|title=10 things you didn't know about Shania Twain|url=https://ca.hellomagazine.com/music/gallery/0201310162384/10-things-you-didn-t-know-about-shania-twain/4/#:~:text=Back%20to%20story%20October%2016,because%20she%20showed%20her%20midriff.|url-status=live|access-date=September 2, 2021|website=[[Hello! Canada]]|archive-date=September 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902155319/https://ca.hellomagazine.com/music/gallery/0201310162384/10-things-you-didn-t-know-about-shania-twain/4/#:~:text=Back%20to%20story%20October%2016,because%20she%20showed%20her%20midriff.}}</ref> ''[[The Independent]]''{{'}}s Roisin O'Connor believes "Nashville hadn't seen anything like Twain [before] – a [[leopard print]]-loving, midriff-exposing artist determined to be an international star."<ref name="O'Connor-2020" /> According to Kristin M. Hall of the [[Associated Press]], since Twain had not yet begun touring, she used music videos to broaden her audience.<ref name="Hall-2020b" /> Similarly, Erlewine considers her to be "the first country artist to fully exploit MTV's style" by cultivating "a sexy, video-oriented image ... that appealed" to both country and pop audiences, largely without touring.<ref name="Erlewine" />

Her record label cautioned her that both men and women would dislike her independence and sexual expressiveness, respectively, but she did not believe them.<ref name="O'Connor-2020" /> Record executives warned her that women would feel threatened by her "dressing too sexy".<ref name="Malkin-2020" /> Refusing "to conform to a single archetype of femininity", she recalled that she used music to communicate with like-minded women by alternating between heartbroken, comedic, vengeful, empowered, self-deprecating and lustful personas "all on the same record."<ref name="O'Connor-2020" /> Country rock musician [[Steve Earle]] famously labelled her "the world's highest-paid [[Lap dance|lap-dancer]]."<ref name="Wheeler-2003">{{Cite news|last=Wheeler|first=Brad|date=April 5, 2003|title=Shania a snobby star? Never that Twain shall meet|work=[[The Globe and Mail]]|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/shania-a-snobby-star-never-that-twain-shall-meet/article1012771/|access-date=September 2, 2021|quote=She's one of the biggest stars in the world|archive-date=September 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902064328/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/shania-a-snobby-star-never-that-twain-shall-meet/article1012771/|url-status=live}}</ref> Despite these criticisms her music has largely been embraced by fans.<ref name="Erlewine" /><ref name="Vitagliano-2021" /> In a 2015 profile on Twain, ''[[Maclean's]]'' Sonya Bell theorized that Twain's early critics would be shocked by her continued success,<ref name="Bell-2015" /> while ''American Songwriter''{{'}}s Joe Vitagliano considers her a testament that "critics and the 'industry' aren't quite the 'be-all, end-all' that they think they are".<ref name="Vitagliano-2021" /> Sarah Koo of ''[[Entertainment Tonight Canada]]'' wrote that, in hindsight, Twain's image throughout the 1990s seems tame in comparison to the revealing outfits of artists who have since succeeded her.<ref name="Koo-2013" />

At one point she was considered to be among the biggest music stars in the world.<ref name="Wheeler-2003" /> Journalist Brian D. Johnson wrote that, despite her [[girl next door]] image, Twain "has the sort of star power that people expect from royalty", which he attributes to her Cinderella-esque life story.<ref name="Johnson-1998" /> ''[[The Guardian]]''{{'}}s [[Simon Hattenstone]] described her as "sexy, empowering and funny. This was a woman who knew what she wanted – men, action, dancing, control."<ref name="Hattenstone-2018" /> Calling her equally country, pop and rock star, Hattenstone went on to write that Twain is "fancied by the straight boys, admired by the straight girls, adored by gay men as a camp icon and loved by lesbians who read what they wanted into Man! I Feel Like a Woman!."<ref name="Hattenstone-2018" /> Claiming her stint hosting the 2003 Juno Awards was noticeably void of diva behaviour despite persistent rumours of outrageous antics and demands at the time, Brad Wheeler of ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'' described her as "an international icon and Canada's sweetheart", a sentiment with which Juno Awards producer [[John Brunton (producer)|John Brunton]] agreed.<ref name="Wheeler-2003" /> Instead Twain relied on her own security, band, production team and assistants.<ref name="Wheeler-2003" />