--- description: Lennox clarified that her comment about "feminist light" figures weren't directed specifically towards Beyoncé. title: 'Twerking Is Not Feminism,' Declares Annie Lenox image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06e3a8c930e350a8/698762245f570f80bcb12dd3/177739633.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Living](/tag/time-section-living/) ## Living Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Annie Lennox: 'Twerking Is Not Feminism' by [Laura Stampler](/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 21, 2014 8:35 PM CUT  Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus perform during the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus perform during the 2013 MTV Video Music AwardsKevin Mazur—2013 Kevin Mazur by [Laura Stampler](/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 21, 2014 8:35 PM CUT After making headlines for asserting that Beyoncé represents [feminism “light”](http://www.pridesource.com/article.html?article=68228 "undefined") last month, singer Annie Lennox expanded on that during an [interview with NPR](http://www.npr.org/2014/10/20/357622310/you-cannot-go-back-annie-lennox-on-nostalgia "undefined") published Tuesday to promote her new album _Nostalgia_. “Listen,” Lennox told Steve Inskeep, “Twerking is not feminism. Thats what I’m referring to. It’s not, it’s not liberating, it’s not empowering. It’s a sexual thing that you’re doing on a stage; it doesn’t empower you. That’s my feeling about it.” Lennox clarified that her comment about “feminist light” figures weren’t directed specifically towards Beyoncé, but rather all sexualized female performers. “The reason why I’ve commented is because I think that this overt sexuality thrust, literally, at particular audiences, when very often performers have a very, very young audience, like seven years \[old\], I find it disturbing and I think its exploitative, and it’s troubling,” she said. “I’m coming from a perspective of a woman that’s had children.” You can listen to the whole interview below: ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3529403/annie-lennox-twerking-feminism/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3529403/annie-lennox-twerking-feminism/"},"headline":"Annie Lennox: 'Twerking Is Not Feminism'","datePublished":"2014-10-21T20:35:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:13:57.156Z","description":"The artist explained why she doesn't subscribe to Beyoncé's brand of feminism","url":"https://time.com/3529403/annie-lennox-twerking-feminism/","keywords":["Living","Newsfeed","feminism","society","Beyonce","entertainment","NPR"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06e3a8c930e350a8/698762245f570f80bcb12dd3/177739633.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06e3a8c930e350a8/698762245f570f80bcb12dd3/177739633.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2013 MTV Video Music Awards - Show","caption":"2013 MTV Video Music Awards - Show","creditText":"Kevin Mazur—2013 Kevin Mazur","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3529403/annie-lennox-twerking-feminism/","name":"Annie Lennox: 'Twerking Is Not Feminism'"}}]}] ```