Annie Lennox Thinks Beyoncé Is a "Feminist Lite"

"It's tokenistic to me," the Eurythmics singer argues

So much for sisterhood!

In an interview with GLBT website PrideSource, Annie Lennox called Beyoncé's feminist values into question. Referring to the "XO" singer's recent MTV Video Music Awards performance, the Eurythmicsmember, 59, argued, "I would call that 'feminist lite.' L-I-T-E. I'm sorry. It's tokenistic to me. I mean, I think she's a phenomenal artist—I just love her performances—but I'd like to sit down [with her]. I think I'd like to sit down with quite a few artists and talk to them. I'd like to listen to them. I'd like to hear what they truly think.

Lennox was seemingly unaware that Beyoncé has in fact championed feminism in other ways than through her music. In a January 2014 essay for The Shriver Report, for example, the R&B diva said feminism "requires both men and women" to work. "We have to teach our boys the rules of equality and respect, so that as they grow up, gender equality becomes a natural way of life," the "Run the World" singer wrote. "And we have to teach our girls that they can reach as high as humanly possible." And, when Beyoncé covered British Vogue in May 2013, the 17-time Grammy winner said, "I guess I am a modern-day feminist. I do believe in equality. Why do you have to choose what type of woman you are? Why do you have to label yourself anything? I'm just a woman, and I love being a woman."

But Beyoncé isn't the only artist who makes Lennox worry. Without identifying anyone else in particular, the singer said, "I see a lot of it as them taking the word hostage and using it to promote themselves, but I don't think they necessarily represent wholeheartedly the depths of feminism—no, I don't."

"I think for many it's very convenient and it looks great and it looks radical, but I have some issues with it. I have issues with it. Of course I do," the "Why" singer acknowledged. "I think it's a cheap shot. I think what they do with it is cheap," she added. "What can I tell you? Sex always sells. And there's nothing wrong with sex selling, but it depends on your audience. If they're 7-year-old kids, I have issues with it."

Regarding the polarity of the word "feminism," the singer said, "People's relationship to the word has been a bit ambivalent over the last few decades. According to who you speak to, they don't sometimes quite know what to do with the word...Some women, many women, still have issues with the word and almost distance themselves from it because they're afraid it's synonymous with hating men."

Without mentioning Emma Watson's #HeForShe campaign, Lennox continued, "I think that what happened over the years, and quite rightly so, is that women had to be incredibly radical, stringent and strident about the voice of feminism. They had to do that, but I think that nowadays it's a more subtle thing. But we need men to be onboard with us. That's my view. Some women might disagree with me."

"I'm not saying I hold the key to the absolute truth—I'm not saying that at all—but I also feel very much that the LGBTQ movement and the women's movement need to get together far more frequently because we're coming from the same place of human rights and civil rights," the Scottish singer argued.