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Bob Dylan is a poet, a songwriter, a singular artist..and a sexist? Properly, that’s how he’s described within the interview from 1980. And in typical Dylan-esque type, the singer takes it in his stride, each considering the ramifications of the interview, earlier than reiterating the essence of the query in a means that’s each respectful and derisory of its mission assertion. However the songwriter was absolutely ready to grasp the significance of the query, keenly conscious that to the stylish new members of the press he represented an older guard, and stored his guard up throughout the interview.
Was he a sexist? A chauvinist at most. However he was a product of his time and grew up in an America the place girls got here second to males, and feminism – in its personal means – represented an try and topple the values his era grew up with. However peering by way of his catalogue, there’s nothing as surprising as John Lennon‘s ‘Run For Your Life’ or Paul McCartney’s ‘Getting Higher’ — though to the credit score of each Beatles, they tried to redress the steadiness throughout their solo careers with such anthems as ‘Girl Is The N* of The World’ and ‘Daytime Nighttime Struggling’. Positive, Dylan tends to view girls as objects in his songs, however that was par for the course.
Mick Jagger wrote in regards to the pursuit of black slaves on ‘Brown Sugar’; Rod Stewart spoke about carnal conquests on ‘Maggie Might’ and ‘Keep With Me’; after which there was Paul Simon who appeared infatuated with the dream girl, nevertheless she offered herself to the world at massive. Males wrote from a really totally different perspective on life at the moment. It didn’t go well with Dylan – the best songwriter of his era – to be any totally different to his creative friends. It didn’t go well with his character to be out of step. Being different isn’t the identical as searching for it.
It’s to Dylan’s credit score that he handles the interview comparatively professionally. He doesn’t disrespect the query as Sean Connery did when the previous Bond was requested to clarify his determination to defend slapping girls. 1980 was the rise of feminism, and it was a time when girls have been taking cost. Britain had a feminine Prime Minister. Israel was embracing the fireplace of the motion. And Irish girls have been demanding contraception, after many years of Catholic rule.
So, It’s unfair to label Dylan a sexist, however moderately to name him the product of a sexist period. The place he progressed as an individual was in his means of turning into a extra considerate and well-rounded individual, and the Dylan of 2022 is a really totally different man (in addition to artist) to the person who was requested his opinion on feminism in 1980.
Watch the way in which Dylan deflects the reply beneath.
