Shania Twain was “standing up for herself” when she wrote ‘Man! I Feel Like a Woman.’
The 57-year-old singer released her now-signature tune to critical acclaim in 1999 and reflected that it was a reaction to her starting to feel “okay” about being a woman.
She said: “When the ‘Man! I Feel Like A Woman’ statement came out, then it was so obvious the song was liberated, independent, human beings. Celebrating your own spirit, and I felt it all through the songwriting. I’m just thinking, this feels like party song. It just made me feel like I’m standing up for myself. I’m not apologetic about all the things that are criticized that I’ve experienced in my own life. That’s too tight, that’s too short, for me to just start even recognizing that I’m okay with being a girl.”
The ‘You’re Still the One’ hitmaker went on to explain that while she did not write the song for any particular reason, it has gone on to belong to “everyone” and “changed” things for her as a country musing singer.
She told WhiskeyRiff: ““I hadn’t written ‘Man! I Feel Like A Woman’ for any particular person, except for the way I was feeling. It’s like everyone’s song.
And they all take ownership of it in a different way, even regardless of what the song stands for and represents, and has come to represent. ‘Man! I Feel Like A Woman’ is a signature song for my entire career. This song was absorbed by a global audience, which changed things for me as an artist, of course.
I’m a part of pop culture now. It wasn’t a courageous thing to write this sort of statement, but once I said it, then I’m like, this is very satisfying thing to say, ‘Man, I feel like a woman, and I love that.’”