This week, Glamour Magazine announced that for the first time in history they’ve decided to include a man in the “Woman Of The Year” award. U2’s frontman Bono was given the honorary title, despite the fact that he is not a woman. The news has been both criticized and praised as the magazine claims his work for pro-women groups has been exceedingly extraordinary and he is a champion in the realm of women’s rights. While the magazine is quite possibly doing this to gain attention, there is no doubt that after they gave the Woman of the Year award to Caitlyn Jenner in 2015 that some may wonder exactly what kind of statement is trying to be made.
Following the announcement, Bono said he was “sure he didn’t deserve it” but “grateful” regardless. He also proved his feminist leanings by adding that men are “largely responsible for the problem” so they have to be “involved in the solutions.”
Glamour’s Editor-in-Chief, Cindi Leive, said that they had considered making the bold move of giving a woman’s award to a man years ago but always ended up appropriately giving it to a woman. However, in the midst of a bold era in gender identities, Leive said that keeping such a hardline between men and women started to seem like “an outdated way of looking at things.”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.
Leive continued: “The idea that a man who could select any cause in the world to call his own, or no cause at all, is choosing to work, and not just for one night or at a special event, but consistently day after day and month after month on behalf of women, is incredibly cool and absolutely deserves applause.”
[revad2]
