That's what she said: when famous women speak out about feminism
Dionne Warwick once scolded Snoop Dogg and Tupac for their misogynistic lyrics: "We got out-gangstered"
CELEBRITY Feminism
More and more female celebrities are using their platforms and their power to speak out against sexism. Many pop culture figures have become symbols of feminism in a male-dominated industry.
Dionne Warwick has been at since the '90s, speaking up when she wasn't too pleased with some rappers' misogynistic lyrics. In CNN Films' new documentary 'Dionne Warwick: Don't Make Me Over,' Warwick and Snoop Dogg recount a story of the legendary singer organizing a meeting with several popular rap artists, including Snoop and Tupac Shakur, to teach them a lesson. The 'I Say a Little Prayer' singer ordered them to arrive at her house at 7 am, and Snoop recalled they arrived early because, as he said in the doc, per Billboard, "We're powerful right now, but she's been powerful forever. Thirty-some years in the game, in the big home with a lot of money and success."
The meeting began with Warwick telling the rappers to call her a "b—h," seeing as they used the term to refer to women in their music. Warwick explained that they're entitled to express themselves, but there's a way to do it. She recalled telling them that they're going to grow up and have families and children, "You're going to have little girls, and one day that little girl is going to look at you and say, 'Daddy, did you really say that? Is that really you?' What are you going to say?"
Snoop said it was a wake-up call. "She was checking me at a time when I thought we couldn't be checked," he said. "We were the most gangsta as you could be, but that day at Dionne Warwick's house, I believe we got out-gangstered that day." Since then, he "made it a point to put records of joy—me uplifting everybody and nobody dying and everybody living," he said. "Dionne, I hope I became the jewel that you saw when I was the little, dirty rock that was in your house. I hope I'm making you proud."
From Emma Watson and Ariana Grande to Margaret Atwood and Jane Fonda, check out which other female figures are making waves for the cause.