Shania Twain Is Speaking Out About Gender Inequality in the Country Music Industry
Shania Twain has been spreading messages of female empowerment since the 1990s.
Now, the top recording artist is using her platform to speak out for gender equality in the country music industry.
Fans of Shania Twain are forever going crazy over the Grammy award-winning singer (whether it’s for her music or her bikini bod) and she's given us yet another reason to love her.
While the 54-year-old has long been an advocate of women’s equality, but it’s a little more rare for her to speak out on the matter outside of her powerful song lyrics—that’s why her latest interview with Good Morning America is such a treat.
"I think women in every platform in life need to make more of a statement, not necessarily be louder, just they have to know themselves better," she said in an interview with GMA. "They need to almost excel beyond the average male in order to be heard, to stand out enough... and to be recognized. A lot of that is just lack of opportunity, so we have to fight harder in order to get our opportunity."
As a woman who grew up poor, Shania shared that she always felt “on guard” as a result of the disadvantages life dealt her. "And being in the country music industry as a woman can be a disadvantage. It's just a fact," she said.
Acknowledging that she’s always had to fight harder for what she wants—due to both financial and gender barriers—Shania told the outlet that self-expression has become incredibly important to her, so much so that it’s simply part of her character at this point.
Part of harnessing her self-expression included overcoming her stage fright fears to land a key role in the country music industry—something her mother told her would be necessary to make it big in music.
"Putting survival first, understanding—and with more and more maturity as I went—that the only way to succeed, and by succeeding I mean just even exist, to be seen, to be recognized, to be respected, you have to dive in and put your fears aside and you cannot let your fears get in your way," she said. "This has created a very, very dynamic side of me that I otherwise may not have grown into if I didn't have the disadvantage of being female in this industry."
Once she started putting her fears aside, Shania released her hit song, “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!”—which has been a source of female empowerment ever since. As if the lyrics alone didn’t encourage women all over the world to embrace their femininity in whatever field they’re in, Shania made the decision to let her first-ever music video speak to the same idea.
"I never felt it was right to ask me to downplay my femininity just to be respected for my art," she said in the GMA interview. "I resented that and I thought, 'No, in fact, I'm going to make my very first video braless—because I'm a woman, and I don't feel like I need to strap myself down anymore, which is what I always did when I was in high school."
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