Photo: Eric Korenman
As the soulful singer behind hits like “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” “No More I Love You’s” and “Walking on Broken Glass,”Annie Lennoxearned a reputation as one of popular music’s greatest vocal powerhouses. But in recent years, the former Eurythmics front-woman has used her singular voice to push for female empowerment, becoming the one of the feminist movement’s most visible and tireless champions.
“If you live in a developed country, a wealthy country — the kind of country that we’re in at the moment — or somewhere in the Western world, we wouldn’t even consider that your child or children wouldn’t go to school, or wouldn’t be able to read or write. It’s just something you think, ‘Oh yeah, it’s all been sorted.’ But actually, it’s still happening today to billions of people.”
In advance of the CAMFED Gala — and herexhibit at MASS MoCAin North Adams, Massachusetts, which opens on May 25 — Lennox spoke to PEOPLE about the ongoing fight for gender equality across the globe.
I fear that there is a common belief among men and boys that feminism is not something that includes them, and that the fight for gender equality is not their own. What would you say to those people who are seemingly unaware that women’s rights are human rights?
We need to see rapid improvement. An organization like CAMFED are beautifully poised to create those changes through the education of young girls who would not receive an education otherwise. Those girls are like little seedlings that blossom into being empowered women that could be leaders in their communities, and they can be influencers for change. This situation is almost like the Dark Ages for girls and women in the developing world. I think it needs to happen at the ground level. It must happen through the education of girls.
How has the movement for female empowerment changed since you founded The Circle in 2008? You mentioned #TimesUp and Me Too a moment ago.
I’m a heterosexual woman. I love men. I have many, many friends that are men. I think men are great. I have friends who are gay. Men friends, whatever, it doesn’t matter. But if you have a misogynistic attitude, you have a problem. I have a problem with you, because this is really not acceptable. It hasn’t been acceptable for years. Now we have a talking point about it. Now I’m noticing that people are far more aware, and far more conscious about: “Ah, maybe I can’t say this. Maybe I can’t behave like that.” Well, actually, that’s right. No, you can’t say this and no, you can’t behave like that. I think it’s a really good thing.
Do you think there’s still a misconception that being a feminist means you’re inherently anti-male, rather than pro-equality?
Yes. This is nonsense, and it’s a willful misconception, mind you. Because there are some men out there who are being encouraged to sort of propagate that notion that feminists are man-haters. It’s been going on for decades now, and it’s very outmoded. It’s very untrue. I think it’s time that was dropped, but there are factions. On the internet there are so many groups of people with very extreme ideas. There always will be groups of people with very extreme ideas. Unfortunately, there are those that have that interest to propagate this kind of false information. I believe that feminists don’t have to hate men. We don’t hate men, we hate misogyny. That’s what is hated.
You personally have an enormous platform through your music, which has reached and inspired millions for decades. What about someone who doesn’t have that same kind of influence — how can they help?
I think every woman can be an influencer and change agent individually, because everyone has a circle of friends to begin with, or a family, or people at their workplace. It starts with you. It starts with you becoming involved, understanding what feminism is about and expanding your worldview. I agree with you that I am fortunate to have a platform, and maybe not everybody’s got the same kind of level of outreach, but I think that each one of us, in our own way, can have a sphere of influence around us. That’s very, very important. Each one of us tends to think, “Oh, I can’t do anything, so I don’t think it’s important.” No, I don’t agree. Investigate yourself as a man. Investigate yourself as a woman. Ask what your values are and if you feel that you have something in common with feminism, male or female. Learn about the true, global facts. These are the real, real places where feminism is desperately required.
There’s a story I’ve read about you, which left me stunned: As a student you auditioned for a place at the Royal College of Music and were told that you’d be better off auditioning for a teaching place because there were so few performance spots for women. What kind of impact did that have on you, trying to grow as an artist in a culture that had that mentality?
It was kind of demoralizing and it was debilitating. Life is funny, life is funny. Sometimes it doesn’t work out the way you thought it was going to. But sometimes it does work out for the best, in that way. I was a classical flute player. I wanted to pursue that as a performer. I just wasn’t up to the standard to begin with, really. It’s true, I went to the Royal College and I almost got in, but they did say to me, “Don’t you think it would be better to pursue a teacher training course, because there are very few places available for women performers.” Now, that was in 1970. Forty-nine years later, if you look at orchestras, they’re filled with female performers. I like that. I just like that because it proves women can do that. Of course they could.
One of my favorite songs of yours is “Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves,” which you recorded with Miss Aretha Franklin. What was the genesis of that song?
At the time I wrote the song, I wanted it to be an anthem. I woke up one morning and I had this idea in my head: “I think the feminist movement needs some songs.” You know a song, like an anthemic song that’s about what women have achieved since the suffragette movement. That was the genesis of the song itself, to celebrate the achievements that women have made. Like, we’ve broken down so many glass ceilings. We’ve jumped over so many hurdles. We still have a long way to go, but, if you look at that little film clip, the way we’ve done this film clip, we assume it’s all done. It’s kind of done, we just need a few more things and then we’ll be there. Well, no actually. Not quite there yet. It’s a long way to go in the rest of the world for millions of other women and girls. We must, must, must look to them. We must help them. We must support them. We must inspire them. That’s where the suffragette movement has to go. We all do.
What is it about music that makes it such an effective mode to enact social change?
My upbringing, I think, lies behind a lot of this, for so many reasons. I was born in Scotland. I come from a working-class background. My father worked in the shipyards. He followed his father into the shipyards. It was very hard work. We lived in a working-class district in a two-room tenement house. There was poverty. I thought I knew what poverty was, until I went to the developing world. Not only to the resorts and the beaches, but behind those scenes where you see people living lives which are so harsh and so hard. Systemic poverty. I was very fortunate that I got a place at a girl’s school that was not in my district. There was an opportunity for a slightly better education than I would have had if I’d gone, let’s say, at the local school with the kids in the area.
There I had the opportunity for music lessons. My mother and father paid the amount of money to pay for my music lessons. Quite honestly, I look back now at the age of 64, I think, “My God, if they hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have learned how to read or write music, how to play the piano. None of the chapters of my life’s direction would have happened.” They passed away a long time ago, but if they knew now what that small investment, which was quite a stretch for them at the time, how it had paid itself. I’m giving back in a way, I like to think. I’m giving back because I have had privilege, and it wasn’t a great privilege. I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth. But, nevertheless, I had education. I had opportunity. I went to the Royal Academy of Music. I had these opportunities that came my way. I have not taken it for granted. So what I do is to say, “Why can’t other young girls be given empowerment?” I was fortunate. I want to give back and make my contribution to the women’s movement. That’s what I want to do. For humanity.
source: people.com
