Twain’s Music Promotes Strong Women
It’s great to be a girl, says country singer Shania Twain.
As an idol of young American women, the Canadian singer preaches her own brand of feminism. In her videos and songs, Twain keeps making the point that a beautiful woman can be strong and smart.
“I spent my whole teenage life flattening my breasts, wearing triple shirts, always worried about those things,” Twain said in a telephone interview to promote her new album, “Come on Over,” set for release Nov. 4.
“Teenage girls, they need to learn to grow up confident about these new things that are growing on their chests. It’s very important that girls grow up with a sense of confidence about the fact that they’re women.”
Twain, 32, has overcome her inhibitions. Her videos showcase her curvaceous body as she insists on being treated with deference (“Any Man of Mine”) and makes it clear she knows the way to the door if she doesn’t get it (“I’m Out of Here”).
With a sound that combines classic rock with elements of country, Twain sold more than 12 million copies of her second album, “The Woman in Me.”
“They were just so not typically commercial country,” she said of the songs on “The Woman in Me.” “They were unpredictable, they had a very funky attitude and a sense of humor that I love to play with. And they were a little bit daring, quite daring for country music at the time.”
Twain says the success gave her confidence while working on the follow-up.
“You just pick up on what works on the last album, and then you go forward with it,” Twain said. “You’ve sort of been given a ticket to go forward with that kind of stuff.”
Sonically, that means more of the supersonic fiddles recorded like guitars on a rock album, courtesy of Twain’s producer and husband Mutt Lange. Lange, who has made hits with Def Leppard and Bryan Adams, also co-wrote with Twain new songs that continue to promote strong women. They include:
“Black Eyes, Blue Tears,” about a woman leaving a violent relationship. “This is more about the positive side of it - a woman looking over her shoulder and saying, ‘Wow, this feels great, wonderful, I never have to experience that again,”’ Twain said.
“Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” cheerleads for the gender. “It’s just celebrating how fun it is to be a woman,” Twain said. “We have this sense of freedom that, almost, men don’t have any more. It’s kind of weird what this liberation has done to us and for us.”
“If You Want to Touch Her, Ask.” Said Twain: “It’s about controlling yourself and taking a sensitive approach and a more respectful approach, and then that’s what you’ll get in return.”
Twain says “If You Want to Touch Her, Ask” is her kind of feminism: getting a point across without losing her sense of humor or femininity.
“I think a lot of what’s being stripped from us these days is the fact that we need to be more masculine to fit in in the world,” Twain said. “And that pressure is not coming from men. That pressure is coming from women.
“Not everybody has to go out there and downplay their femininity or their sensuality to be taken seriously.”