“We would be more caring about old people. We would be more caring about young people. We would be more caring about relationships. Women are there kind of to pick up the pieces when men go off and break everything up.” — Cher
When Charlie Rose asked Cher how women would’ve run the world differently, her answer was one word: “Caring.” During their July 9, 1996 interview, she explained that she meant care for older people, young people and the relationships that hold people together.
The conversation grew out of her version of James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World.” Cher was promoting her album It’s a Man’s World, which had arrived in Europe in late 1995 and in the U.S. in mid-1996. Her interpretation gave the song a sadness she didn’t hear in Brown’s performance.
“Because for it to be a man’s world makes you sad,” she told Rose.
“Well, no, it doesn’t make me sad, but I think you guys have screwed it up a lot,” he replied.
When Rose asked whether women would’ve done better, Cher said, “I think so.” He pressed her to explain what would’ve been different, and she kept her answer focused on the people who needed looking after. That was where the line about caring came in, and where she added the part that has stayed with people: women are the ones who pick up the pieces after men break things apart.
It’s a plain answer to a big question, and that’s part of why it lands. Cher didn’t reach for policy or theory. She named three groups of people and the bonds between them, and she said women tend to be the ones left tending to all of it.