The 'God Father of Soul' James Brown declared in one of his classic songs "This is a man's world....but it would mean nothing without a woman or a girl" The song then goes on to attribute all the works of modern civilisation to 'Man' and throws in the examples of the car, train and electric light as all being 'Man made'. The line about it 'meaning nothing without a woman or a girl' on face value sounds patronizing to women as it gives them a bit part supporting role in the running of the world.
The song was written in February 1966 and at the time Rolling Stone magazine branded the lyrics as "Biblically chauvinistic! It's only when you come to realise that the lyrics were actually written by Brown's then partner 'Betty Jean Newsome' that it starts to become apparent that in 1966 this indeed was the 'way of the world'.
'Newsome' says she wrote the lyrics based on her observations of the relations between the sexes at that time....
Fast forward to July 2013 and we can see how dramatically things have changed....Last night the winner of this years 'The Apprentice' was revealed, as Leah beat Luisa into 2nd place and the other finalist Francesca went out last week. That's right, 3 women in the final, flying the flag for female entrepreneurs everywhere with the men beaten out of sight and this was a point not missed by Karen Brady who herself is probably the best example of all of a woman thriving in a so called 'Mans World'. For the past 20 years she has been involved at the very top end of an industry that is still regarded as one of the last bastion of maleness....'football' where she has been 'MD' of Birmingham City and 'Vice Chairman' of West Ham United.
In 1966 when Betty Jean Newsome wrote the lyrics to 'It's a Man's Man's Man's World', England were winning The Football World Cup and I bet there was not a woman within a mile radius of the team changing rooms if you discount the 'tea lady' and it was still to be 3 years before Karen Brady was even born. Now we see her presiding over proceedings as the women of 'The Apprentice' flex their business muscles to the point where poor old Jason was beaten into submission by Luisa and chose to 'fall on his sword' in the now infamous 'Abdication' episode! To date there have been 11 female finalists in the show and only 7 men which is another indication that the girls are coming out fighting.
There are more and more examples of powerful women in real life and by that I mean away from our TV screens. I work for Moss Bros and we are Mens' Outfitters as well as Mens' Wedding Hire Specialists and most of the top jobs in our company are held by women who have proven that they are the best person for the position.
I know a lot of men who like poor old Jason feel threatened and intimidated by strong women but times have moved on from 1966 and who knows, in years to come our Grandchildren could be listening to a soul songstress of the future crooning about it being 'A Womans' World'?... Sex should no longer be a consideration in deciding who get's what job and if that means a woman is the best man for the job then so be it!
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