Bono First Man To Make Glamour’s ‘Woman Of The Year’ List

Say what you want about Bono (and people say a whole lot), the man does his part when it comes to activism and humanitarian work. Now, he’ll have one more string to add to an already crowded bow as Glamour Magazine have sought to honour him as the first ever male on their prestigious annual ‘Woman of the Year’ list.

While this isn’t breaking new ground entirely (Harper’s Bazaar honour a male within their awards), it is an achievement nonetheless to receive the nomination and he will be awarded at ?a?ceremony in Los Angeles on November 14th. Yes, the awards are designed to primarily highlight the achievement of women, but Glamour editor-in-chief Cindi Leive, said she felt it was time to highlight the men who were also doing their bit to make things happen for women.

?We’ve talked for years about whether to honour a man at Women of the Year and we’ve always kind of put the kabash on it. You know, men get a lot of awards and aren’t exactly hurting in the celebration and honors department,? said Leive. ?But it started to seem that that might be an outdated way of looking at things, and there are so many men who really are doing wonderful things for women these days. Some men get it and Bono is one of those guys.”

The U2 frontman is being recognised for his work on the rights and needs of women and girls who live in extreme poverty around the world. Last year, the singer and his One campaign launched a ‘Poverty is Sexist”movement, highlighting the fact that roughly 62 million girls are denied a right to education around the world and that half a billion women can’t read and sought to raise awareness of this with a subsequent campaign.

And finally, Bono’s work with @ONECampaign makes him our first-ever Man of the Year: https://glmr.co/1qDus4Q #GlamourWOTY #shattertheceiling pic.twitter.com/nkTt5JaRfl

? Glamour (@glamourmag) November 1, 2016

In a letter to world leaders, Bono (along with other notable public figures), also called it an outrage that girls account for 74 percent of all new HIV infections among adolescents in Africa.

Following his nomination, the singer said that the battle for gender equality won’t be won unless men step up and lead alongside women. “We’re largely responsible for the problem, so we have to be involved in the solutions,” he said. ?Among Glamour’s other 2016 honorees are fashion designer Miuccia Prada, IMF chief Christine Lagarde, ISIS kidnap survivor Nadia Murad, Black Lives Matter activists Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi, and model and body activist Ashley Graham and Olympian Gymnast?Simone Biles.

Despite the momentous occasion, Bono’s wife, Ali Hewson, was determined not to let him get a big head over the whole thing, saying: ‘Eh, I think you still have some work to do’.”