Annie Lennox has always been a huge supporter of the feminist cause and is now speaking out against modern music in the way that it portrays women and how female artists portray themselves.
In a series of interviews with British papers last week, Lennox made it quite clear that she doesn't think some of today's top female vocalists are doing themselves any favors in the way they dress while performing.
The world has become more sexualised. I thought the world was already sexualised when I was younger but it sells and sells and now it's just a marketing device.
The display of sexuality is part of our nature but I think when it becomes a cliche and that's the only thing you are using to draw people's attention it becomes one-dimensional.
She used Rihanna as an example of an artist that could do a huge amount of good if she didn't trivialize her sexuality:
Here is a young woman who has been through domestic violence and she could become a tremendous spokesperson for that issue but the choice is hers. It's not up to anybody else to do that.
Of course if she did choose to do that it would be so fucking powerful but it's her personal right to choose it or not. We all have our issues and we have to deal with them in our own way.
Lennox also called out hip-hop artists on their lyrics:
I have been so despondent over the years reading the most misogynistic statements coming out of hip-hop music. It’s really upsetting. That attitude of the whore/b****/bling – it’s not going to get anywhere. You have to get to the point where young women say no, actually.
