I am flattered to have been the woman to have opened the door for female rockers to be accepted into the mainly male industry.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
But as a woman, I really started feeling vulnerable on the set, and I really felt that it was important that I should not be open for invitation or making myself look as though I was waiting for something.
The men I worked for didn't look at me as having any gender at all. They regarded me more as a workhorse.
I found through my fan mail that women... really wanted a role model.
It was just really, really tough getting anything when you were a female. Basically, I just took advantage of everything I could. But when people are going to flat out tell you they're not going to hire anyone that's female, there's not much you can do about it.
So when you start touring, women are definitely going to check you out first.
There's no doubt about it that my participation in sports allowed me to compete in the business world in a very gender-neutral way.
I have always admired women that have a strong sense of self, complemented by femininity. I especially appreciate the presence of these women in traditionally male-dominated industries, such as real estate.
If I stumbled badly in doing the job, I think it would have made life more difficult for women, and that was a great concern of mine and still is.
I don't think of being a woman in an industry of men. I didn't walk into the kitchen and go, 'Ooh, I'm a girl!' I didn't get into my chosen profession. I wanted to be good at something.
I've always had mostly women come out to see me perform. That's the reason the guys show up; they know R. Kelly is going to draw the women. Most of the songs I'm singing are catering to women anyway.