Shania Twain is 'fed up' with sexism and ageism in country music
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Shania Twain isn’t that impressed with the current state of country music. The Real Country judge said she’s “fed up” with the sexism and ageism prevalent in the industry.
Twain sat down with E! News to discuss her new singing competition show on USA. E!’s Carissa Culiner began the conversation by proposing “to talk about women in country music today.”
“What women?!” the “That Don’t Impress Me Much” singer quipped, before noting she’s “bored” of country music right now.
“We have too much of the sameness right now. I’m a little bit bored of it, and I want to pick it up. The only way to do that is to be proactive,” she explained. “I wanted a show that, when you talk about diversity, that includes gender diversity, style diversity, lifestyle diversity.”
Twain also spoke about the lack of women on country radio.
“We are not making radio progress, but we are making very small, steady steps towards awareness that we’re lacking women on country radio,” she added.
That’s why the “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” singer wanted to do a show like Real Country, so she could help find new talent. Twain said she wanted to advocate for “young” artists, before amending her statement.
“It doesn’t matter what age you are,” she noted. “I’m fed up with the whole ageist thing as well as the sexist thing. This [show] is wide open. Bring your talent on if you’re good enough. I don’t care what you are, as long as you’re a human being.”
“When I first came on the scene in country music, the limits were way too narrow for me, and it was hard for me,” she added. “There are a lot of artists out there who are intimidated of what they believe country music is. … I want to show them there are no limits.”
Despite her grievances with where things are at in the industry, Twain praised fans of country music. “Who I am as an artist, as a songwriter, as a performer is completely outside the box of where we’ve narrowed country music to be right now,” she stated. “But the fans aren’t narrow-minded.”
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