Annie Lennox

It’s hard to tell how far women’s individuality has come in the past twenty years.

Men need to understand, and women too, what feminism is really about.

Feminism is a word that I identify with. The term has become synonymous with vitriolic man-hating but it needs to come back to a place where both men and women can embrace it. It is particularly important for women in developing countries.

Most women are dissatisfied with their appearance – it’s the stuff that fuels the beauty and fashion industries.

Women’s issues have always been a part of my life.

If we value what we’ve inherited for free – from other women – surely it’s right morally and ethically for us to wake up and say, ‘I’m a feminist. ‘

I can’t understand why the front pages of newspapers can cover bird flu and swine flu and everybody is up in arms about that and we still haven’t really woken up to the fact that so many women in sub-Saharan Africa – 60 percent of people in – infected with HIV are women.