Trigger warning: Sexual assault
There is no question that the world we live in today is still, for the most-part, male-dominated. Even when women fight back against it – we stand up, we speak loudly, we take up space – we are still constantly surrounded by a society that always has and continues to put men ahead of us. It happens in schools, where boys are more encouraged to participate in classes. It happens in workspaces, where women are denied the equal pay and promotional opportunities of their male peers. And it happens in entertainment, where women’s efforts both as creators and as fans are diminished. No matter the environment, women are always asked for more work to be taken less seriously than their male counterparts’.
In recent entertainment news, the founder of the highly successful music PR firm Life and Death, Heathcliff Berru, was accused of a plethora of inappropriate sexual behaviors by multiple women across Twitter. These women began speaking up about Berru’s (former publicist to the likes of artists Killer Mike and Odd Future) aggressions against them and with that brought the conversation of women in the music scene back to the forefront (source).
It’s disheartening to know that sexual assaults and aggressions like these run rampant in the music industry. It happens in instances that garner mainstream attention like Ke$ha’s current legal battle against producer Dr. Luke that spawned the #FreeKesha social media campaign. It happens in the pages of Pitchfork and on Twitter among the indie music scene. And it happens in local DIY scenes where survivors are forced continue playing basement shows with their attackers looking on.
These are by no means trivial issues, so it’s important to not only talk about them happening but also to understand why they’re happening. In addition to the overall attitudes toward women in our society, there is a very specific viewpoint about women in music communities that impacts the way people operate within those communities. Like the world on a larger scale, the music industry is predominantly male-dominated. Despite the fact that many women very successfully run venues, book shows, organize tours, write reviews, and do countless other things in music scenes outside of creating, the overall viewpoint is still that women aren’t doing all of these things as well as men. And if they are, it’s because of their relation to men.
While women are taking on these roles behind the scenes (and killing it, might I add), they are still being questioned about being on stage. No matter how much knowledge a woman has about music, despite all the passion she may have for her songs, outside of her experience with creative processes, a woman struggles to get her music heard, to get her shows booked, to get people to take her seriously as a musician. Because the English language assumes a male subject, we get terms like “girl bands” and “female-fronted bands,” just so audiences are aware that there is a distinction between male-created music and female-created music. This lack of women’s representation was highlighted last year after festival line-ups were revealed to have an overwhelming absence of female acts (source).
So often women are only seen as worthy musicians if a man helped her get there. It serves, then, that women who are fans of music must also only be so because of a man. Here we get a distinction between types of music scenes. When you split music into genres, you see the distinctions between fans of genres. Metal, rock, punk, and indie are male spaces. These are music genres that garner respect for its musicians. Pop music and various versions of it (pop-rock, pop-punk, etc) are often female spaces. The former gets notoriety for being more DIY (read: more real) than pop which is designated as manufactured and lacking in worth. These values are then reflected upon its fans so that fans of rock and indie have value and creativity and deserve to like the music they like.
Women’s interests are rarely seen as something of value, so women who like these types of music must have been introduced to them by a man – someone with valuable opinions. Fans of pop music – often minorities who aren’t welcome in other music communities – are seen as being mindless and lacking creativity. Popular culture is so defined in our society as being without individuality, and what is more representative of having worth than being individual? Since Top 40 radio is usually made up of mostly pop songs, the people who enjoy that segment of music aren’t viewed as individual; their opinions don’t hold worth.
In many cases, pop music is a safe space for girls and women precisely because they aren’t male-dominated. It’s a more welcoming genre because the live experiences lack as much potential threat for danger or questioning, which is what’s happening in those other spaces. Additionally, pop music is seen as more fitting for female artists. Since it’s considered to be a more manufactured medium, artists gain popularity because they are seen as cogs in the machine. Women of pop, especially women of color, become sexualized objects used to promote success for the men running the companies who create them.
These factors are probably present in your everyday life, too. On a personal note, I experience these things all the time. Being a fan of music has always been one of my most important defining traits. It has also always been one of my most questioned traits. When I try to talk to men about music, they scoff at my interest in pop music and then don’t believe that I have interest in other genres as well. They challenge my knowledge of my favorite bands and question if I have genuine interest or if I am using it as a flirtation device. Or they ask if I even know the band whose logo is printed on my shirt. When I have these conversations among multiple men, I never see them question each other as much as they question me.
The truth surrounding these forms of sexism is that they’re really all part of one vicious cycle. Because women’s tastes are questioned, they aren’t taken seriously as fans or creators. Because they’re not taken seriously, they aren’t viewed as members of the in-group. Thus they get fewer opportunities (for visibility, promotion, etc) and more attacks in the form of both doubt and physical violence. And it all needs to stop.
The good news is that there are many people and organizations trying to make the music industry better for women and other minorities. In addition to the brave voices speaking out about their experiences to promote visibility, these are some people working to empower women who love music that I think you should check out: Girls Rock! Pittsburgh, Jessica Hopper, Fvck The Media, Rookie. I also strongly encourage you to read the articles linked below as sources to learn more about these issues.