Britney Spears Shares Why She Embraces Nudity on Social Media in New Memoir: 'I Get a Lot of Joy'

The singer's bombshell-filled book, "The Woman in Me," is out now

Britney explains why she shares nude Instagram photos
Britney Spears explains why she embraces nudity on social media . Photo:

David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty; Britney Spears/Instagram

Britney Spears is getting candid about her skin-baring social media posts.

In her new tell-all memoir, The Woman in Me, the “Gimme More” singer, 41, details the liberation she feels when sharing her risqué selfies with the world, despite the public reaction.

“I know that a lot of people don’t understand why I love taking pictures of myself naked or in new dresses,” she writes in the memoir. “But I think if they’d been photographed by other people thousands of times, prodded and posed for other people’s approval, they’d understand that I get a lot of joy from posing the way I feel sexy and taking my own picture, doing whatever I want with it.”

The Grammy winner has embraced nudity by sharing numerous topless and bottomless selfies to Instagram, some of which show Spears posing fully naked with strategically placed emojis.

Spears also reflects on her fashion choices in the book, writing about her iconic red carpet moments with ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake, whom she dated from 1999-2002.

In 2001 the pair famously showed up to the American Music Awards in matching head-to-toe denim looks, a red carpet moment that became the archetype for "Canadian tuxedos." Looking back, Spears jokes that the outfits were a "tacky" move.

Britney Spears & Justin Timberlake of NSYNC at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, CA
Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake attend the 2001 American Music Awards in matching head-to-toe denim outfits.

Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage

Partly inspired by her upbringing in the South, where "moms love to round up the kids and say, 'Listen, we're going to church today, so we're all going to color-coordinate,'" the idea of matching outfits started as a joke.

"I didn't think my stylist was going to do it, and I never thought Justin was going to do it with me. But they both went all in," she recalled.

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The Woman in Me chronicles much more of Spears' life, recounting everything from her rise to superstardom to the joys of being a mother to sons Sean Preston and Jayden James (who she shares with ex -husband Kevin Federline) to what she calls her "soul-crushing" conservatorship experience and her past relationships.

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“It is finally time for me to raise my voice and speak out, and my fans deserve to hear it directly from me,” she told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview via email. “No more conspiracy, no more lies — just me owning my past, present and future.”

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