Shania Twain thinks women need to ''fight harder'' to have their voice heard.

The 'That Don't Impress Me Much' hitmaker feels that women - in country music and across all professions - have to shout a lot louder than the ''average male'' to be heard and recognised for their successes.

She said: ''I think women in every platform in life need to make more of a statement, not necessarily be louder, just they have to know themselves better. They need to almost excel beyond the average male in order to be heard, to stand out enough ... and to be recognised. A lot of that is just lack of opportunity, so we have to fight harder in order to get our opportunity.''

And the 54-year-old singer feels that women are ''always on guard''.

She added: ''We're always on guard, and I think that that was just my whole feeling growing up, not just because I was a woman, but also just because I grew up poor, I was disadvantaged in a lot of ways. And being in the country music industry as a woman can be a disadvantage. It's just a fact.''

Meanwhile, Shania insists she would never ''downplay her femininity'' so she would be more ''respected'' as an artist.

She shared to Good Morning America: ''I never felt it was right to ask me to downplay my femininity just to be respected for my art. I resented that and I thought, 'No, in fact, I'm going to make my very first video braless - because I'm a woman, and I don't feel like I need to strap myself down anymore, which is what I always did when I was in high school.''