By Hilary Gridley
Women’s rights have come a long way since the early ‘60s, yet women around the country still have to fight many of the same battles as their mothers and grandmothers. Men and women alike see the upcoming election as a pivotal moment for issues like birth control and equal pay, and one group of female artists has taken to YouTube to sound their rallying cry.
Singers Sia, Karen Elson, Becky Stark, Katy Goodman, drummer Tennessee Thomas, Sarah Sophie Flicker of The Citizens Band, and “Portlandia” actress and musician Carrie Brownstein joined more than 50 other artists, celebrities and friends to lip-sync Lesley Gore’s 1964 hit “You Don’t Own Me” for the AdYourVoice2012 PSA. The video encourages women to rise up and win the election for Barack Obama, pointing to Mitt Romney’s lack of support for Planned Parenthood, equal pay for women, and reproductive rights as reasons voting in this election is more important than ever.
Lesley Gore provides the introduction and call to action in the video. “I recorded You Don’t Own Me in 1964,” she notes. “It’s hard for me to believe, but we’re still fighting for the same things we were then. Yes ladies, we’ve got to come together to get out there and vote and protect our bodies. They’re ours. Please vote!”
The video, which also features writer/actor/director Lena Dunham and television host Alexa Chung, points out that while 60% of voters in 2008 were women, women make up only 16% of Congress.
As Tennessee Thomas told Music For Good, “I worry that in the future girls won’t have the same rights I’ve enjoyed my entire life. This is no time to stand by. We have the power to organize, so let’s do this! This election needs to be a mandate, we need to send the message that we will not go backwards. We need to re-elect Obama by a landslide. Women can win this election.”
Check out the “You Don’t Own Me” video below: