Chrissie Hynde Calls Young Pop Stars “Sex Workers”

Chrissie Hynde thinks young female pop stars are "feminists on behalf of prostitutes," but not for music. In a new interview with BBC Radio 4's show Woman's Hour, Hynde airs her views on why many of the women in music today are not feminist enough for her. Following her controversial statements in which she blamed herself for a sexual assault by a biker gang, Hynde is now placing some of that blame on today's culture. More specifically, on the pop stars who call themselves feminists — but don't quite meet her criteria for the term. "I don’t think sexual assault is a gender issue as such, I think it’s very much...it’s all around us now," Hynde said. "It’s provoked by this pornography culture, it’s provoked by pop stars who call themselves feminists." She continued, "Maybe they’re feminists on behalf of prostitutes — but they are not feminists on behalf of music, if they are selling their music by bumping and grinding and wearing their underwear in videos," Hynde said. "That’s a kind of feminism but, you know, you’re a sex worker, is what you are." Hynde went on to lay some blame on their doorstep, saying, "I would say those women are responsible for a great deal of damage." What kind of damage, she doesn't exactly say. The problem with this perspective is that it takes the power away from women. And instead of these pop stars being purveyors of a greater message on a woman's autonomy over her own body, they've been stripped down to objects of the male gaze.