« Russian Woman », which Manizha describes as an anthem « against the stereotypes I have faced », has garnered a huge support base with more than 10 million views on YouTube.
Russia’s unlikely entry into the Eurovision Song Contest, a Tajik-born refugee and feminist activist, knows she angered the country’s conservatives.
« I hit a nerve, » Manizha Sangin told AFP in March after two conservative groups filed complaints with the authorities about their song « Russian Woman ».
The 29-year-old singer, who goes by the name Manizha, shouldn’t win the public vote to use Russia’s song for competition in selecting the Netherlands, which began on May 18.
Her performance of donning a colorful and ornate traditional Russian costume and then ditching it to reveal red overalls was a far cry from values normally advertised on state channels were.
« You’re 30! Hello? Where are your kids? You’re overall cute. But you should lose some weight, » went a line from their song.
A columnist for the opposition Len newspaper Novaya Gazeta expressed surprise that the performance was aired at all, saying the song « declared war on Russian xenophobia and misogyny ».
The openly feminist tune Manizha used as an anthem « against stereotypes who I faced « has since found a huge support base with more than 10 million views on YouTube.
But it also sparked a disdain for the conservative groups calling for Manizha to be dragged as Russia’s Eurovision accession.
In an open letter, an association of Orthodox women accused Manizha of « insulting and humiliating Russian women » and inciting « hatred of men ».
The investigative committee investigating serious crimes in Russia announced that it was investigates a complaint by a veterans’ organization that the text is creating « interethnic tension and hostility ».
Manizha says she is there s has become a target of contempt because it is not customary in Russia to « air your dirty laundry ».
« Society is used to keeping silent about its pain and discomfort in the name of traditional values and public opinion » , she told AFP.
After Manizha built a huge online presence by posting short music clips on Instagram, she used her popularity as a platform for her activism.
In 2019, she launched a phone app, to link crisis centers to victims of domestic violence – a problem in Russia that activists say was ignored by the authorities.
In the same year she caused a scandal for participating in a video defending LGBT rights. A step that, in her opinion, cost her 10,000 subscribers on Instagram.
Always with her mother – her « guru » and costume designer – Sangin (which means « delicate stone » in Tajik) remembered a difficult youth.
After she was born in Tajikistan in 1991, she was in a coma for eight days. Then her home was ravaged by shelling during a civil war that tore the country apart after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Manizha and her family fled in 1994 to lead the difficult lives of refugees in Moscow amid the post-Soviet economic crisis.
But last year the experience led her to become an ambassador of goodwill for the UN refugee agency in Russia.
In this role she started projects like raising money to buy school bags for children of refugee families in Moscow to buy.
Manizha says she has an « innate empathy », especially for immigrants who she believes live in « legalized slavery » around the world.
The psychologist who has been around since she was seven dreamed of a musical career and sings with Celine Dion, now identifies as Russian and treats her host country as her home.
Changed date:
May 22, 2021 11:31:40 AM IST
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