DThe Tajik pop singer Maniza, who represented Russia in the Eurovision competition with the song “Russian Woman”, aroused hostility, and at the same time became a symbol of the new confidence of non-Slav Russians and Russians with immigrant background. The 30-year-old Manizha mixes folklore with soul music and hip-hop, sings in Russian, English and Tajik, and serves as the UN Goodwill Ambassador for Refugees and Immigrants in Islamic Countries. We contacted her via video call at a folk festival in the capital of Ufa, Bashkortostan, where she performed multi-ethnic music and of course “Russian women”. Maniza spoke politely and often laughed.
Your song “Russian Woman” won a lot of applause in Russia, but there are also hate campaigns online. Has the attack subsided during this period?
At least I won’t be threatened anymore. Support is increasing. After the game, I drove to the Tamil polar region, where I met a woman with a small Nasan reindeer on the road. She asked if I was Maniza who sang on Eurovision. When I said yes, she solemnly lit a pipe and thanked me for singing Russian women in an unprecedented way. Russia is multi-ethnic, which is often overlooked. It is a descendant of fraternal Soviet society.
Then they sang the song in a children’s home in Moscow.
On June 1st, Children’s Protection Day, National Television Channel One organized gifts for the Children’s Home. The children in this family want Maniza to sing “Russian Women” with them. It says that when a child grows up without a father, a broken family will not break you. But the orphans heard from the adults that both parents were normal, which made them feel uneasy. With so many broken families, I miss my father. None of my employees have a complete family. this is normal.
As in Ufa now, you often talk to teenagers. What moved the teenagers?
They asked how to be a strong woman, how to gain confidence, and how to love yourself. Whether to see a psychiatrist. You are often judged on social networks through likes and comments. They are struggling with depression and the views of a traditional patriarchal society, which does not accept them as they are.
What advice do you have for young people?
They should not be afraid. You will make many mistakes, and you will have to accept this. They should not stop believing in the craziest ideas. Because only children and adolescents can do this, even creative people rarely retain this ability in adulthood.
You are committed to the LGBT community and women’s rights, but once said that you are not a feminist.
There is an old joke: What is worse for a woman in Eastern society to be a prostitute or a feminist? The answer is: Feminism is worse. I come from a traditional family and have retained many traditional values.Women of the Caucasus and Central Asia trust it Feminism No, this is too radical for them. It is difficult to convince them of the value of free life because they are afraid of radical feminism and then simply close themselves up.
You and your mother have found a non-governmental organization to help women with traditional psychology from the Caucasus, Central Asia or Russia as refugees. Why is it necessary?
