By Victoria Mckeown-
The Russian Eurovision entry of female activist, Manziha, is an inspiration to all women in the world because of the historic mark her participation will make.
The 2021 show launching in May in The Netherlands, promises to be more inspiring than previous years. It’s cancellation last year due to the pandemic, left a gap now being filled by this daring and confident woman.
The song, ‘Russian Woman’, to be performed by the Tajikistan-born singer Manizha Sangin, who works under the name Manizha and is an activist for women’s rights.
In the chorus of the song, which praises strength in Russian woman, Manizha sings: “Every Russian woman needs to know You’re strong enough you’re gonna break the wall.”
Some objections have been made which called for the song to be banned, including by The Russian Union of Orthodox Women, who published an open letter saying that the song’s lyrics inspire “hatred towards men, which undermines the foundations of a traditional family”.
Another open letter was also shared by Veteranskie Vesti-a website for war veterans- who asked the Investigative Committee boss Alexander Bastrykin to begin criminal proceedings into the song’s content.
It was eventually concluded there were no illegal contents, and now the world waits to see her perform in just a couple of months.
Also calling for the song to be banned was The Russian Union of Orthodox Women, who published an open letter saying that the song’s lyrics inspire “hatred towards men, which undermines the foundations of a traditional family”.
Another open letter was also shared by Veteranskie Vesti, a website for war veterans, who asked the Investigative Committee boss Alexander Bastrykin to begin criminal proceedings into the song’s content.
The group said ‘Russian Woman’ “aims to seriously insult and humiliate the human dignity of Russian women.”
Dissension
The Russian entry stands out in particular, after causing dissension in the country of Tajikistan-born Manziha (pictured) , who is heading to Rotterdam to perform the Russian rap entitled “Russian Woman”.
Manziha is an activist for women’s rights, and her lyrics focuses on female empowerment, the strength in Russian woman and the importance of migrants. Women’s rights are widely undermined in many countries with dictatorship regimes, but from those countries often emerge a few prominent stars who fight for justice and equal rights.
Manizha told Eurovision TV the song is about the transformation of a woman’s self-awareness over the past few centuries in Russia.
“A Russian woman has gone an amazing way from a peasant hut to the right to elect and be elected (one of the first in the world), from factory workshops to space flights. She has never been afraid to resist stereotypes and take responsibilities. This is the source of inspiration for the song. By coincidence I wrote it on March 8, 2020 while on tour, but for the first time I perform it a year later”.
Manzihas ethnicity has caused hatred towards her from her country, causing her a great deal of hurt. She moved to Moscow as a child from Tajikistan now a Russian citizen.
Speaking to the BBC she said: “You cannot like my voice; you cannot like my song. But if you do not like me because I was born in Tajikistan, that was hard”.
Some of the hatred has been extreme. “It was very hard to understand that someone can hate you so much. One woman, who has two children, wrote a message, like, “I will pray to God that your aircraft will crash, you know, when you will go to Rotterdam”. And we are having some threats, like “if you’re gonna sing like this about Russian women, you’re not gonna live any more here”.
LGBT Support
Manizha also actively supports the LGBT community and during pride month in 2019, she starred in a video for the Russian online queer magazine “Otkritiye” (“Open”).
It caused her to lose 10 thousand followers from her Instagram which is hardly surprising given that Russia is already one of the least LGBTQ friendly places in Europe, ranking higher than only Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey in the 2019 Rainbow Index, by Brussels-based advocacy group Ilga-Europe.
Manziha has angered conservative groups in Russia causing her lyrics to be examined by Russian investigators for “for possible illegal statements”.
In the letter, the group said Manizha’s pop tune “aims to seriously insult and humiliate the human dignity of Russian women”.