Acclaimed singer Dame Shirley Bassey has revealed some very outdated opinions about gender equality – arguing that women are the lesser sex.
In an inter view with British Newspaper The Daily Mail the 78 year old singer has said that women should not be allowed to become police officers or pilots and men should be in charge.
“Women in my industry aren’t empowered. Never have been, never will be. Think about the modern man. The gene goes so deep, it goes right back to the caveman days: man must have control. Women should not change it, because we’ve tried and we’ve emasculated men. It’s dangerous to mess with science.
“There’s a reason why men are here. If I was flying with a female pilot, for instance, I’d be very worried. Women have periods and hormones, and that bothers me about women who want men’s jobs. Like firefighters, police, soldiers . . . I don’t believe in women soldiers! Come on, women should be women. We should be feminine.
“I’m not sad about it. We should accept it. It’s worked this way for a long time. Men went out and brought home the bacon. Women are now going a step too far, trying to be cleverer than men — or as clever. Now, the man becomes the house-husband and it’s wrong. It shouldn’t be that way.”
The British Women’s Pilot Association has quickly leaped to the defense of female pilots. Professor Marion Woolridge, the deputy chair of the organisation said the evidence showed that Dame Shirley’s opinion had no basis in fact.
“I think the facts speak for themselves – there are now plenty of excellent female pilots to demonstrate that there is no reason why they should not fly aircraft,” Professor Wooldridge said.
The iconic singer also recently hit out at modern pop stars commenting that their clothing was too revealing. Dame Shirley said that while she often had plunging necklines and high slits on her dresses, she always left something to the imagination.
Dame Shirley is about to release her first Christmas tune, collaborating with operatic band Blake to record ‘The Christmas Song’. Despite having a recording career that has spanned decades the singer has never released a Christmas album.
