Annie Lennox to Beyoncé: "Twerking Is Not Feminism"
On the road to promote her upcoming album Nostalgia, Annie Lennox has tried, it seems, to start something with Beyoncé. Sure, why not? Last month, she called Bey "feminist lite," and in an interview with NPR's Steve Inskeep yesterday, she clarified, "twerking is not feminism."
Lennox addressed the overt sexualization of women in music more broadly, explaining,
The reason why I've commented is because I think that this overt sexuality thrust—literally—at particular audiences, when very often performers have a very, very young audience, like 7 years older, I find it disturbing and I think its exploitative. It's troubling. I'm coming from a perspective of a woman that's had children.
Which, fine, but Beyoncé isn't exactly a teen idol. Inskeep pushed Lennox, noting, "Some people will know that you specifically criticized Beyoncé for this the other day."
Lennox responded, "I was being asked about Beyoncé in the context of feminism, and I was thinking at the time about very impactful feminists that have dedicated their lives to the movement of liberating women and supporting women at the grass roots, and I was saying, 'well that's one end of the spectrum, and then you have the other end of the spectrum.'" Sheesh!
She continued, "Listen, twerking is not feminism. Thats what I'm referring to. It's not—it's not liberating, it's not empowering. It's a sexual thing that you're doing on a stage; it doesn't empower you. That's my feeling about it."
Beyoncé hasn't responded, nor will she ever.
[Photos via AP]