{"id":1588049,"date":"2022-08-04T07:32:47","date_gmt":"2022-08-04T11:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1588049"},"modified":"2022-08-04T07:33:00","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T11:33:00","slug":"shania-twain-biopic-reminds-us-feminism-can-actually-be-sexy-and-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/shania-twain-biopic-reminds-us-feminism-can-actually-be-sexy-and-fun\/","title":{"rendered":"Shania Twain Biopic Reminds Us Feminism Can Actually Be Sexy And Fun"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fshania-twain-biopic-reminds-us-feminism-can-actually-be-sexy-and-fun%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1588049&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The new Shania Twain biopic, \u201cNot Just a Girl,\u201d leaves a lot to be desired as a documentary about a remarkable person. But as a reminder of what it means to be a feminist in the traditional sense, it hits the nail on the head.<\/p>\n<p>Twain\u2019s take on \u201cfeminism\u201d \u2014 she never identifies herself as a \u201cfeminist\u201d that I remember \u2014 isn\u2019t the aggressive, man-hating, rage-filled \u201cgender identity\u201d ideology of today. Her music and attitude are not about rejecting men, running them down, or trying to be a man herself, but proclaiming self-reliance with or without a man and celebrating characteristics that are distinctively feminine, even if, amusingly, they aren\u2019t always particularly flattering.<\/p>\n<p>The new Netflix production opens with Twain \u2014 from behind, a Sarah Palin lookalike \u2014 manhandling the gears of her standard transmission convertible sportscar up a majestic mountainscape while musing on what it means to be independent. She says there is no other way to be except \u201caware, but fearless.\u201d She is determined to make her own decisions in life, she says, to make her own money, buy her own car, and make her own way.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe minute you depend on somebody else, you lose something,\u201d the singer says. \u201cYou lose the right to decide for yourself. You\u2019ve just got to go for it. Taking the risks to do things your way is scary. So you\u2019ve got to be brave.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The camera fades from a bucolic paradise to the near-opposite: a sea of screaming fans packed into a huge arena. A present-day Twain emerges from her dressing room and hurries to the stage, glittering from cowboy hat to toe in sequins. Similar scenes from stadium concerts and awards ceremonies throughout the last several decades flash across the screen, implying that the superstar\u2019s credo about being brave and independent has paid off, at least as far as commercial success is concerned.<\/p>\n<p>Fellow music stars Lionel Richie, Kelsea Ballerini, Diplo, and Avril Lavigne gush over Twain\u2019s trailblazing legacy, noting how she broke barriers by bridging musical genres (she basically invented \u201cpop country\u201d) and rewrote the \u201crules\u201d for female musicians. Twain \u201cdoes it all,\u201d says Lavigne: She plays guitar, writes her own songs, and puts on \u201cinsane live shows.\u201d In terms of record sales, Twain has sold a staggering 100 million albums worldwide \u2014 record<em> sales<\/em>, Richie points out, \u201cnot streaming\u201d \u2014 and put out three diamond albums consecutively, a feat that few artists are able to achieve in a lifetime, let alone back-to-back over a handful of years. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Then Bo Derek says something that sets the tone for the film: \u201c[Shania Twain] may not wear a banner on her hat that says \u2018I\u2019m a feminist\u2019 \u2014 she just <em>did<\/em> it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The documentary depicts the life of a woman who has maintained strength, confidence, and an unwavering sense of self in the face of an unconventional upbringing (her mother forced her to sing in seedy bars as a kid), tragedy (her parents were killed in a car accident, and Twain became a mother figure and provider to her brothers when she was just 22), love won and lost (her husband left her for her best friend), and monumental achievement.<\/p>\n<p>Twain soared to stardom with high-energy performances and outlandish get-ups that are a far cry from the composed, low-key, present-day singer who sits in the film cross-legged, always cross-legged, like a zen yogi, reflecting on her sensational career. Yet what a 20-something Twain, ambitious and resolved to do what it takes to \u201cmake it\u201d in the early \u201990s, and 56-year-old Twain, relaxing at one of her many grand estates share is an unapologetic delight in being the symbol of a feminine woman.<\/p>\n<p>The mainstay of Twain\u2019s success was girl power ballads: \u201cAny Man of Mine\u201d (1995) was the original dating profile, laying out specific standards Twain upheld for a would-be suitor. Best lines: \u201cAny man of mine\u2019ll say it fits just right \/ When last year\u2019s dress is just a little too tight\u201d and \u201cEven when I\u2019m ugly, he still better love me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Twain continued her empowering female anthems to record-setting fanfare album after album. \u201cDon\u2019t Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)\u201d (1997) turned the tables on the opposite sex by applying the mistrusting antics often applied to \u201ccrazy women\u201d to a man, and \u201cHoney I\u2019m Home\u201d (1997) cheekily toyed with housewife stereotypes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf You\u2019re Not in It for Love (I\u2019m Outta Here!)\u201d (1995) and \u201cThat Don\u2019t Impress Me Much\u201d (1997) also both put the woman in the driver\u2019s seat, raising the relationship bar by letting men know what women want, i.e., more than good looks and material possessions. And then, the marquee pro-woman hit: \u201cMan! I Feel Like a Woman!\u201d the music video for which features a glamorous Twain dancing in sexy men\u2019s wear-inspired attire, showing the world how much fun it is to be decidedly female.<\/p>\n<p>Twain loved wearing \u201cgirly\u201d costumes, makeup, and high heels and flaunting her feminine figure and mystique. She owned it, stood up for herself when she needed to, and by all accounts, retained a vulnerable, sincere, \u201csweetheart\u201d persona that garnered her so many loyal fans. Twain didn\u2019t struggle with drugs or alcohol (that the documentary shows, anyway), but many times had to buckle down and \u201cdig myself out of a hole,\u201d as she put it.<\/p>\n<p>I was left a little unsatisfied with this film, wondering how and why Twain ended up living in Switzerland, where her stage name came from, what became of her son Eja, how she learned to sing again after Lyme disease damaged her voice, what the giant diamond rock on her wedding finger signifies (apparently she married her ex-best friend\u2019s ex-husband but it\u2019s not mentioned).<\/p>\n<p>Despite these lingering questions, it\u2019s fun to be reminded of how catchy music used to be and how not just acknowledging but <em>reveling<\/em> in the complimentary differences in the sexes was a normal, healthy, enjoyable part of culture. <\/p>\n<p>This film also inspires viewers to consider feminism in the way it was intended to be embraced and practiced: to be a true feminist means taking responsibility for oneself, standing firm in one\u2019s convictions, and just \u201cdoing it\u201d \u2014 in stilettos and rhinestones, if need be \u2014 making up your own mind, having high standards, and being brave. Bad-mouthing men, burning bras, and growing long armpit hair are not required.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Teresa Mull is an assistant editor of Spectator World and writes from the Pennsylvania Wilds.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The new Shania Twain biopic, \u201cNot Just a Girl,\u201d leaves a lot to be desired as a documentary about a remarkable person. But as a reminder of what it means<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":992,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1588049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1588049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/992"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1588049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1588049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1588049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1588049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1588049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}