Cheryl Fernandez-Versini has spoken out to criticise the music industry for the way it forces women to sexualise themselves in order to sell music.

Cheryl herself has never shied away from showing off her body in order to sell records it seems but speaking in a recent interview, the singer expressed her concerns that young stars feel pressured into stripping off for what she calls the wrong reasons.

In an interview with Stella magazine, Cheryl said: "The music industry is dominated by men behind the scenes. And older men, too.

"You shouldn't have to… I mean, sexy and all that is great to an extent, but you shouldn't have to sexualise yourself to be selling music.

"I don't know what's happened. I'm sure some women are naturally like that. They objectify themselves because they want to be like that. Which is fine. No judgment at all. But sometimes it's just unnecessary.
"If you're dressing sexy, there's a way to do it. If you are going to be explicit with your lyrics, dress differently. It's a bit much at the moment, I feel.

"And I get women who say, 'Why should men objectify me? Why can't I go naked?' Yeah. Do whatever you want. I just feel some of it is insincere, which is a little bit sad."

Cheryl is making a valid point about the way that women in the music industry are viewed but I feel that she is the wrong person to deliver this message. Since her time in Girls Aloud and especially now that she is a solo artist, Cheryl has always seemed eager to expose her body. The fact that she is now criticising other women in the industry for doing the same makes her seem petty and a little jealous of newer, younger artists that are emerging at the moment.

When asked in the interview about her own choices in the past, she said: "I mean, yeah, I have. Girls Aloud wore some short skirts and some outfits that were quite sexy, but we were singing 'I'm just a love machine' and 'Something kinda ooh, jumping on my tutu'.
"It was fun, it was quirky, it wasn't trying to be sexual. I would never do something I didn't want to do, or get told that's the 'lane' to be in at the moment. Everyone is competing in the same lane. F**k off, I'd rather be in my own lane."

Cheryl’s comments imply a sincere concern about other women in the industry and a desire to be seen as different to the rest. However, what she neglects to comment on in the interview is the fact that she is an established artist with over ten years experience in the music industry. At the point she is at in her career, she doesn’t have to strip off in order to get male attention because the British public has seen it all before.