In a new interview with Metal Hammer, ARCH ENEMY vocalist Alissa White-Gluz talked about feminism and the current state of the world, saying: “I think there are a lot of people very sheltered to the fact women don’t have equal rights all over the world. Even my friends who live in wonderful, democratic Canada don’t perceive the fact women aren’t receiving equal rights, they think that’s something in the past. Once you’re traveling a lot, you realize there’s a long way to go.
“I think it’s important that feminism remains a topic of discussion. I know it’s trendy now to hate feminists and call them feminazis, but sorry, the battle’s not over! We can’t just pretend everything’s OK. Just look at any Middle Eastern country and talk to women there. I do. I have quite a few fans there that I talk to.
“Whether you want to call it religious oppression or cultural oppression, it’s still mostly oppressive to women. That’s happening right now, in this world, today. I consider us citizens all of the same place, so it’s not their problem, it’s happening to women just like me. It’s not something I take lightly.”
During the rest of the conversation, she talked about being a vegan, saying: “I’ve been vegan for about 18 years, but the activism actually came first. I grew up vegetarian and I’ve always loved animals – not ‘cute, heart emoji,’ I love animals emoji, I love animals! I think they’re fascinating, I think they’re amazing and I’m almost driven to tears just reading about different species on the planet.
“I think it’s amazing that we live on a planet where there are so many different kinds of creatures roaming the air, land and ocean and we don’t know anything about them. It’s incredible to have such a wide biodiversity around us and it’s something we should all appreciate more as we’re losing it.
“A lot of species are going extinct because we’re destroying the planet and disregarding this amazing gift we have. I always wanted to do something to help animals. When I grew up, I would do a fundraiser like a bake sale, sell cookies that I made, and take the $50 to donate the WWF or the Humane Society.
“I would take in stray cats and have them fixed up at the vet. We did our part but I wanted to do more, and what I realized was that I could do more for animals every single day by being vegan than I could by doing a million bake sales!
“By being vegan I boycott industries actively contributing to slaughtering and torturing animals and I’m able to reduce my environmental footprint. I know it’s a trendy term but what it means is I’m using way less resources when it comes to water, soil and geographical surface area that would be destroyed to create grazing lands for cattle, just by choosing not to consume animal products.
“It’s so easy to do and it has such a huge impact, so I realized I could be doing something every day that was actively helping the planet and helping animals. PETA is another organization I would send my bake sale money to.
“As my musical career grew, I was able to meet up with other people from these organizations and started working with them in about 2006. I’m not a ‘member’ of any particular charity but there are certain campaigns for certain charities I do believe in, so when there was the campaign against the Canadian seal hunt, that’s something that happens in Canada so it hit close to home I wanted to work on that.
“I know people have a lot of opinions on that organization and I know why they have those opinions, but the fact of the matter is they’re doing a lot of good for animals.”
