Dua Lipa has always fought hard to be taken seriously as a musician.
The 22-year-old British singer's career is going from strength to strength, with hits such as Hotter than Hell, New Rules and IDGAF under her belt. However, Dua admitted in a new interview with GQ magazine that she's struggled against the misconception that all female musicians are "manufactured".
"For a female artist, it takes a lot more to be taken seriously if you're not sat down at a piano or with a guitar, you know?" she explained. "For a male artist, people instantly assume they write their own music, but for women, they assume it's all manufactured."
Dua also used the interview to speak about the #MeToo movement, created in response to the sexual assault allegations sweeping Hollywood and the music industry. While she hasn't been subjected to any misconduct herself, the star is thrilled that such a monumental movement is taking place during her lifetime, and hopes it fundamentally changes the way women view men's behaviour.
"I'm lucky in that I haven't really had any sexual harassment in any way. But I think (#MeToo) is so important," she said. "You know, even from school, growing up with kiss chase or whatever, it's been ingrained in our heads that boys will be boys and its (sic) harmless fun and no big deal and to brush things off. Like catcalling.
"To some it might not seem a lot, but it affects your mood, people get embarrassed about the way they dress... For lots of females, be it actresses, singers, models, no matter what it is, it's not being able to have the right to dress and wear how and what you want and be taken seriously."
