Delving thoroughly into the subject of John Lennon's relationship with women would most likely take several novels worth of pages, and as someone who spent a good five years of her life studying absolutely everything about The Beatles -- in particular the lives of George Harrison and John Lennon -- I could go on and on.
But right now I'm crunched for time and would like to give a Tuesday Thank You (Tuesday Tank You?) to Mr. Lennon for being a self-proclaimed feminist who, at least in his later years, practiced what he preached. Obviously, much of the Beatles' material is pretty blatantly misogynistic. ("Run For Your Life"? *shudder*) But there is something to be said about a man who later on admits just how horrible it was of him to act that way towards women, and vows to be nothing but respectful from then on.
From John's last major interview: “I used to be cruel to my woman, and physically — any woman. I was a hitter. I couldn’t express myself and I hit. I fought men and I hit women . . . I am a violent man who has learned not to be violent and regrets his violence. I will have to be a lot older before I can face in public how I treated women as a youngster.”
No, there is never any excuse or forgiveness for a man who beat women at any point in his life. But it is extremely admirable for that man to acknowledge this and completely change his ways. John was raised around strong women, and from what I gather, that respect and admiration was always there in his subconscious. It's unfortunate that it only started to sink in during the last half of his life, but I personally am very grateful for people like this -- widely respected and idolized public figures who have absolutely no shame in admitting to an audience of millions, "I'm a man, and I'm a feminist."
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I always wondered about the line in that one Beatles song, something like "I used to be cruel to my woman, I beat her, and kept her away from the things that she loved". Is that him singing?
It's Paul singing, but the line was written by John. In that interview quote given, the first thing he says is "I used to be cruel to my woman" as a reference to that song. When I first got that album (Sgt. Pepper's) as a little kid, that line would freak me the hell out, but as I got older I realized that it said "I used to," not "I am." Not to mention the line which follows is, "Man I was mean, but I'm changing my scene, and I'm doing the best that I can." As I got even older I realized how progressive it was for a man to express shame and regret for his misogyny, in a time when a lot of people, especially males, would have nothing to do with anything resembling feminism.