Bono urges Trump to back gender equality
15 November 2016
Bono urged US President-elect Donald Trump to prioritise gender equality as he accepted Glamour magazine's inaugural Man of the Year award. The U2 frontman was recognised after his One campaign launched a Poverty is Sexist movement last year. "I say to the president-elect: look across to women, make equality a priority, it is the only way forward." Mr Trump has been widely criticised by his detractors for his attitude towards women. Women's groups and feminist associations are organising a mass protest in Washington DC for 21 January, the day after Mr Trump will be sworn into office. Many take issue with his previous comments about women, and are concerned that he has been accused by women of sexual assault. Mr Trump has denied all sexual assault allegations and said "no one respects women more than I do." At the ceremony for Glamour's Women of the Year Awards in Los Angeles, Bono said: "I know how ridiculous it is for me to be on this stage accepting this award. But if I didn't know how ridiculous it was, I did have the blessed internet to remind me. "As my daughter Jordan says, there is nowhere on earth where women have the same opportunities as men," he added. "Unless we address this problem, both men and women together, the world will continue down this misogynistic, violent and impoverished path. "The train is leaving the station, be on it or be under it." Other winners included International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde, who won the lifetime achievement award, Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and singer Gwen Stefani. Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi, and Alicia Garza, the founders of the #BlackLivesMatter campaign, were also recognised. It was set up in the US three years ago in response to police killings of black men. Many on social media felt it was risible to give a man of the year award at a women's event. Indeed, the irony wasn't lost on Bono himself, who described it as "ridiculous". Comedy writer Travon Free tweeted "Does Glamour magazine know giving Bono the Woman of the Year award to try to undo patriarchy undercuts the entire point of the award?" Another user named Stephanie Peat tweeted: "Bono has been named Glamour's woman of the year. To be fair with only 3.7 billion women it must be tough to find a worthy one." But a friend of the star's, CNN's Christiane Amanpour, wrote a robust defence of the decision, arguing that men should take women's issues on board. And Glamour's editor-in-chief Cindi Leive said they had talked for years about including a man but had always ruled it out. But she said "it started to seem that that might be 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. At the ceremony, actress Amber Heard read the victim impact statement of the survivor of the Stanford sexual assault case, known only as Emily Doe. The letter went viral earlier this year amid criticism of the six-month sentence handed to former swimming champion Brock Turner for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman in 2015. He was released in September after serving half of his term. Heard and Hollywood star Johnny Depp settled their divorce earlier this year, saying neither of them intended to cause the other any physical or emotional harm. In a joint statement, the pair acknowledged their relationship had been "volatile". Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram at bbcnewsents, or if you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
Many on social media felt it was risible to give a man of the year award at a women's event. Indeed, the irony wasn't lost on Bono himself, who described it as "ridiculous". Comedy writer Travon Free tweeted "Does Glamour magazine know giving Bono the Woman of the Year award to try to undo patriarchy undercuts the entire point of the award?" Another user named Stephanie Peat tweeted: "Bono has been named Glamour's woman of the year. To be fair with only 3.7 billion women it must be tough to find a worthy one." But a friend of the star's, CNN's Christiane Amanpour, wrote a robust defence of the decision, arguing that men should take women's issues on board. And Glamour's editor-in-chief Cindi Leive said they had talked for years about including a man but had always ruled it out. But she said "it started to seem that that might be 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.
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Why did Bono get the award?