Grammy-award winning singer, Annie Lennox, has spoken out against Beyonce and other fake feminists that she feels uses the term and the movement to lure in an audience. In an interview with PrideSource magazine, Lennox revealed her true thoughts about the singer.
Beyonce is a self-proclaimed feminist, particularly after her hit song Flawless, featured Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche‘s popular 2013 TedxTalk. At the MTV Video Music Awards in August, Beyonce’ posed fiercely in front of an oversized screen that displayed the now controversial term.
The Scottish singer acknowledged Bey’s talents as a musical artist, but she questioned her position as a feminist. She said, I would call that ‘feminist lite.’ L-I-T-E. I’m sorry. It’s tokenistic to me. I mean, I think she’s a phenomenal artist — I just love her performances — but I’d like to sit down [with her]. I think I’d like to sit down with quite a few artists and talk to them. I’d like to listen to them; I’d like to hear what they truly think.”
She also believes that Beyonce, and other ‘feminist’ artists only use the term to promote themselves. She continued, “I see a lot of it as them taking the word hostage and using it to promote themselves, but I don’t think they necessarily represent wholeheartedly the depths of feminism – no, I don’t. I think for many it’s very convenient and it looks great and it looks radical, but I have some issues with it. I have issues with it. Of course I do. I think it’s a cheap shot. I think what they do with it is cheap and … yeah. What can I tell you? Sex always sell. And there’s nothing wrong with sex selling, but it depends on your audience. If they’re 7-year-old kids, I have issues with it.”
What do you think? Was Annie Lennox out of line to police Beyonce and say who can and cannot be labeled feminist?