Concerned parents and teen boys with their tongues hanging out have their skank meters trained on Christina Aguilera. The girl’s got a long reputation, based on her short skirts and the sleaziness of her video for the Rockwilder-produced, Redman-flavored single “Dirrty.” Chaps with a bikini is a bit outré, but get this straight: Throughout Stripped, Aguilera stands up as a better role model than Britney Spears has ever tried to be. Self-respect, physical independence and emotional confidence rank high in this collection of hip-hop throw-downs and Celine Dion–style torchers. Most admirable is Aguilera’s embrace of sexual pleasure. It’s a message girls need to hear: They can enjoy their bodies without destroying themselves. Similarly, the musical peaks are shows of strength, setting Aguilera’s supercharged wail in Technicolor arrangements. Hip-hop vet Scott Storch grasps Aguilera’s gift for melodrama: “Fighter” reworks En Vogue’s “Free Your Mind” as a survivor’s tale, with Dave Navarro on guitar. “Can’t Hold Us Down,” a smug slap at enemies Eminem and Fred Durst, benefits from a wicked Lil’ Kim rap. And “Loving Me 4 Me” softens Aguilera’s edge as she dots a light jazz arrangement with Donna Summer–worthy oohs and ahhs. Aguilera cowrote most of the songs, and she sounds surer of her themes than Spears did in a similar I’m-coming-out role last year. She rails against beauty standards, denounces her violent father and, in an Oprah moment, advises girls to follow “the voice within.” She whoops and wanders through every melody, never turning the volume below 5, derailing collaborations with old pros Linda Perry and Glen Ballard.Brazenness is Aguilera’s best quality. But it can make people hate her, as it has with many a bad girl.