Bono featured with the ‘other’ women named on the list.
In excellent news for U2 fans, Bono has just been named on Glamour magazine’s women of the year list.
The problem is that the last time we checked, Bono was still a man. The announcement puts Glamour in a similar league as the UN, which recently appointed a comic book character as its new ambassador for women and girls, and the Daily Telegraph, which a couple of years ago named a horse as its sportswoman of the year.
So is the problem a lack of accomplished women to name in such positions? Or are male musicians, horses and comic book characters just doing a better job at inspiring the rest of us?
Glamour gave Bono their first ever ‘Man of the Year title on its women of the year list, in recognition of his work campaigning for women’s rights. Last year Bono launched a Poverty is Sexist campaign as part of his One charity.
He said he’s “grateful” for the mention and added men were “largely responsible for the problem, so we have to be involved in the solutions”. He took the time to pose for a photoshoot with the ‘other’ women to make the list, including Gwen Stefani, Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, founders of the Black Lives Matter movement Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi and Alicia Garza, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde, body activist Ashley Graham and ISIS kidnap survivor Nadia Murad.
Glamour’s Editor in Chief Cindi Leive says the team has talked for years about including a man in the list but, “Men get a lot of awards and aren’t exactly hurting in the celebration and honors department.” Still, it was time for a change in 2016, to move on from such “an outdated way of looking at things”. “There are so many men who really are doing wonderful things for women these days. Some men get it, and Bono is one of those guys,” she said.
Is Bono doing some great work? Yes. As Melinda Gates is quoted in Glamour, he’s using his “skills to get the world talking about the fact that ending extreme poverty begins with empowering women and girls.” Meanwhile CNN’s Christiane Amanpour writes that Bono is making it clear men can and should take on “deep rooted issues” that contribute to the world’s poorest women.
But did Bono really have to be on this list? No. It’s sad such stunts seem necessary in order to give a range of other, actual women a spotlight
