“We need to stop buying into the myth of gender equality. It isn’t a reality yet.”
Beyonce – featuring on Rhythms Del Mundo: Oceans, our new fundraising album – may not fit with the traditional idea of a feminist icon, but she’s keen for women to claim their power and confidence. In this – she is a great role model. As she says, “We need to reshape our own perception of how we view ourselves. We have to step up as women and take the lead.”
You might ask what this has to do with Artists Project Earth, climate change and the future of the planet? Well, quite a lot actually – because how might the world look if women had an equal say in top level decision-making? Arms trade, renewable energy, education, healthcare, sustainability? The fact is, we don’t know, because women have never, had the opportunity.
Beyonce says, “We need to stop buying into the myth of gender equality. It isn’t a reality yet.” As we face an uncertain future, with the risks of climate change, global terrorism and environmental degradation, wouldn’t it be a good for the voices of half the population to come to the fore? Might that not put a different perspective on things?
In developing countries particularly, women’s voices are quashed. Malala Yousafzai was a young woman from Pakistan who was shot in the head at age 15, because she advocated girls’ rights to attend school. She said at the 2015 Women’s Equality Day,
“I raise up my voice, not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard. We cannot succeed when half of us are held back.”
However, this is not about men vs women. It’s not about two opposing sets of ideals. Gender is a broad spectrum, but when half of the spectrum is overshadowed, light is diminished in the world. Beyonce believes that, “Power is not given to you, you have to take it.” And that’s a challenge for the women of the world right now. If you believe like novelist Arundhati Roy that “another world is not only possible, she is on her way,” then join with Beyonce, Malala, Arundhati and the millions of other women who are ‘being the change’ and work towards your voice being heard – in your home, your wider family and your community – because this is important and will help to rebalance the power and light in the world.
It’s for Beyonce’s words that we are very proud to have Beyonce’s track, ‘Miss You’ featured on Rhythms Del Mundo: Oceans, the new fundraising album from Artists Project Earth. Listen to the track and download it now.
