Actually, Women Already 'Step Up,' Says Pink 

Pink has joined the enormous chorus of women pissed about Recording Academy president Neil Portnow’s asinine assertion that women need to “step up” if they’re to have a major presence in the music industry. Not only that, but she’s the rare breed of pissed that impels a person to hand write a note explaining why Portnow’s statement was moronic, using two different pens:

“Women in music don’t need to ‘step up’—women have been stepping since the beginning of time. Stepping up, and also stepping aside. Women OWNED music this year. They’ve been KILLING IT. And every year before this. When we celebrate and honor the talent and accomplishments of women, and how much women STEP UP every year, and how much women STEP UP every year, against all odds, we show the next generation of women and girls and boys and men what it means to be equal, and what it looks like to be fair.”

Portnow told Variety on Sunday that the male-dominated Grammys weren’t a function of a sexist system, but somehow due to a lack of effort on the part of women themselves.

“I think it has to begin with women who have the creativity in their hearts and souls—who want to be musicians, who want to be engineers, who want to be producers, who want to be part of the industry on the executive level—to step up,” he said.

Pink was nominated for best pop solo performance but—surprise!—lost to Ed Sheeran, the only man nominated in that category.