In his 1986 Grammy Award-winning song Kiss, Prince sang: “Women not girls rule my world”.
As tributes light up the internet for the late performer and songwriter — a man who the New York Times has described as being “bursting with music” — many people have taken to social media to share why Prince was so important to women.
He might have won seven Grammys, some said, but he also dedicated much of his career to celebrating women’s sexuality, and generously nurturing and championing other female artists.
“I haven’t seen anyone write about how [Prince] always surrounded himself with female musicians,”tweeted Vox.com writer David Roberts.
“Under appreciated fact about Prince: He championed women musicians throughout his career,” Selene Yeager tweeted.
“I think it needs to be said that Prince was an excellent supporter of women in rock. Look at his bands,”added Jessica Faust.
Prince ‘really respected women as artists’
Senior music writer for Fairfax Media Bernard Zuel said Prince’s support of the women around him was so significant because it was rare.
“Prince was someone who really respected women as artists, songwriters and performers — something that was certainly not a given in the 70s and 80s when he started, and still isn’t even an assumed truth now,” Mr Zuel told ABC News.
“He was a massive fan of Joni Mitchell and I suspect that must have had a massive role in how he saw women as equals and as contemporaries, and as people with whom he could work and who might bring something special to him.
Top Comments
Oookkkkkkkaayyyyyy. I am a mad fan and have been for 3 decades, but these eulogising articles need to stop. Prince groomed Mayte from the age of 16 (with her mother's blessing) and courted her with the express purpose of taking her viginity at 18. (He was 37 at the time.) He wrote 'beautiful girl' for her- note the word girl, not woman. He was a complex person, capable of humour and kindness and amazing talent but he was also a man, with pretty base and predatory desires, highly conceited and hardly humble. He met Sinead once, told her off for her swearing and she tried to punch him. They never spoke again. He didn’t 'nurture' her. Can't we just celebrate him without making him out to be something he wasn't? Please!
Yep. I adore Prince but I have to agree. No more articles for me - just the ones with the facts.
So he met Sinead, told her off for swearing and she tried to punch him, and that makes him the bad one. Living proof the man is always wrong I guess.
Huh? Er..no. I am just saying it is a well-known fact that they didn't get along. Bee in bonnet about something today?
Yes I agree, I feel like they are trying to make him into some kind of feminist. As for the sexy sings, every band writes songs about sexy or you could say "slutty" girls because it's a turn on and sells songs, and they know that's a girl they can get it on with, it doesn't necessarily follow that they respect these women for their supposed "strong" sexuality. If you took the reasoning that far you would say that every musician surrounds himself with groupies because he respects women with strong sexuality. In any case isn't red corvette talking about the problem with the girl being "too fast". Raspberry beret he sings something like "she want too bright but she knew how to get her kicks."
Look I'm not trying to make him into some kind of mysognist, but I'm just saying a few sexy songs doesn't make him a feminist either. He's hardly singing about the gender pay gap is he! If however he did nurture some female musicians careers, without being motivated by getting in their pants, then that's nice.
Otherwise I will just appreciate him as being a talented musician who wrote more than a few catchy tunes, and who had an amazing talent for understanding music and playing musical instruments. He also had some soulful things to say, and other times his tunes were just sexy catchy ones. Someone to be highly respected for his musicology but none of this makes him a feminist icon.
I feel so incredibly sad at his passing. His music has been the soundtrack to my life- highs, lows, heartbreak, love.
His blatantly sexy but almost worshipful depiction of women's sexuality was empowering and I have had Prince playing in the background of some very sexy times!
RIP Prince, you will live on through your amazing musical genius