Garbage’s Shirley Manson Unimpressed With ‘Meat and Potatoes’ Sexuality in Music

Many fans have missed Garbage and especially Shirley Manson, but the group has returned with the new album, 'Not Your Kind of People.' The singer admits that she doesn't think anyone has quite replaced her during the band's time away from the spotlight.

"I thought when Garbage went away, there would be a ton of verbal young women to come up in place of my generation," she tells MEOW. "Courtney Love, PJ Harvey, Fiona Apple, Alanis Morissette, there was a lot of us talking and being provocative. There's none of that now, really. I'm shocked that my seat was still empty when I looked back. I was like, 'Wow, I thought it would've been filled by now by a young, red-headed, big-mouthed b----,' but there's not really been much at all."

Manson has a theory that 9/11 put the world in a much more conservative place and factored into a lack of strong female voices. She explains, "Everybody felt insecure, and of course, whenever our culture feels insecure, who do they shut down first? The girls." The singer says there are plenty of women with something to say in music, but they don't necessarily get the chance anymore.

The vocalist says it's also been interesting to see how sex is portrayed in entertainment over the years, and adds that she's not a fan of how it is now. "Sexuality is always there in everything you do as a human being, but what is presented to us as sexy now is very cartoony," Manson says. "It's nothing subversive, dangerous or challenging in any way. I'm bored seeing girl after girl with her tits and ass. They look like high-class 42nd Street hookers. It's not hot and it's not mysterious. It's meat and potatoes."

Manson says she would rather see women be associated with their intellect, and that she finds there are more interesting things about being a woman than just being a sex object. "I just want to hear more women speak up and not be bamboozled with their boobs," she explains.

The Garbage frontwoman's strong voice and opinions can be heard all over Garbage's newly released album, 'Not Your Kind of People,' and the singer will continue with her band on tour for the remainder of the year.