bonoWhen I heard the Bono had been named a Glamour Magazine’s Woman of the Year, I was confused. Surely the award was for – well – women? I was reminded of the scene in (the always great) Parks and Recreation when Ron Swanson is given the Dorothy Everton Smythe Woman of the Year award.

Bono is the first man to be named on the magazine’s Women of the Year list. He has been honoured for his work on the campaign Poverty Is Sexist, which highlights the gender inequality of poverty. They released a report to every head of state in the world on March 8th this year (International Women’s Day).

Bono is reported to have said: “I’m sure I don’t deserve it, but I’m grateful for this award as a chance to say the battle for gender equality can’t be won unless men lead it along with women. We’re largely responsible for the problem, so we have to be involved in the solutions.”

While I agree with everything Bono is fighting for, and his Poverty Is Sexist campaign, I sill do not think that he should have been named among the Women of the Year.

The award is not for the winners; they do not receive a cash prize, or anything that would help them continue the work they were awarded for, other than recognition.

Instead, the award is surely for the women and girls reading about the winners, who can then become inspired to take on a challenge or join a cause.

Glamour Magazine seems to be trying to make feminist activism more palatable to men, which to me undermines the point of the award.

Why Bono didn’t just receive the Man of the Year award (which is a long established category) is beyond me.

Glamour Magazine’s other 2016 Women of the Year include musician Gwen Stefani; Olympian Simone Biles; and the three founders of the Black Lives Matter movement, Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi and Alicia Garza. There is also the survivor of the Stanford sexual assault case (who has been named Emily Doe); fashion designer Miuccia Prada; managing director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde; anti-Isis campaigner Nadia Murad; and plus-size model Ashley Graham.

-Jocelyn Anderson-Wood
Junior Girl
Girl Museum Inc.

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