With this two-part feature on women in music, I will consider the place of women in music throughout history. I’ve split this feature into two parts: ‘The Bad’ and ‘The Good’ and, as is conventional, I will start with the bad news and the good news will follow!
Disclaimer: I am a man…
By some, feminism is considered a dirty word, but for many, this is simply due to being ill-informed. The definition of feminism is “the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes” and, in a musical setting, this is what this pair of articles focusses on.
As a feminist, I believe in equal opportunities for men and women and it’s disheartening to observe the pop music charts and see that the only women selling a large number of records are the typical ‘good-looking, pop princess’ type. In stark contrast, men have never had to be good-looking to be successful. The likes of Shane MacGowan, Thom Yorke and Mick Jagger have made millions looking like a hobo’s shit-stained arsehole, but how many times can you say the same for women? Women are judged, not on their artistic merit, but on their looks which, without any argument, is wholly unfair. This unethical treatment of women was epitomised by the well-known event that was Susan Boyle’s audition on Britain’s Got Talent. The automatic reaction from the panel of judges was disgusting and was mainly due to her not being someone they’d pay to see on the cover of lads’ mags Playboy or FHM. The unfounded, preconceived misconception was that she was going to fail (miserably) and it was formulated through a ghastly sexism.
Historically, there have been very few women who have been allowed to make strides in music and represent your ‘average’ woman. Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Kylie Minogue, Madonna, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and many more are all beautiful women who have topped charts and sold hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of records. But that’s just it; they are beautiful women. Yes, they are all copiously talented, but very few of them would have been considered for recording contracts without being as easy on the eyes as they are on the ears. This, as a stand-alone thought, illustrates a static nature for feminism in the music industry as these ladies all come from different decades and their situation seems unchanged despite the time difference.
In recent years, Adele has made waves as a top-selling artist (who doesn’t sport a size 8 figure) and some would consider her to be representative of your ‘average woman’ – something that displays progression. The issues surrounding Ms Adkins’ career lie with social media. People tweeting and posting their condemnation of her presence in the industry and their thoughts on her (and similar women) ‘not being pretty enough to be in the public eye’ are frankly disgusting and this is a clear denunciation of modern society. It shows a world that focusses on the aesthetics of women’s bodies, not on their ability to create music.
The argument could be made that this sexist approach to music is confined only to pop music. However, since the inception of the Grammy for ‘Best Alternative Music Album’ in 1991, there have been two women to win the award: Sinead O’Connor and St. Vincent. That is two women in twenty-five years. The mismatch of nominations, in favour of men, further illustrates the inherent sexism on display even in alternative music accreditation. One of few cases of positive strides in this area comes from the Mercury Prize – which has awarded their top prize to women at six of its twenty-three ceremonies (which, while not an even 1:1 split, is closer to a realistic number). This is not to say though, that awarding bodies should simply hand awards to women (in an attempt to display an equal-opportunities stance) but when eight of forty-eight opportunities have been ‘granted’ to women it is clear that the music industry is an incredibly unequal battleground.
The overtly sexual component of women in pop music is abundantly obvious and displayed in the cases of Pussycat Dolls, Girls Aloud and Britney Spears. According to major record labels, these ladies’ selling points to the general public have always been their sultry ‘come hither’ looks into the camera and the dances they perform in music videos and on stage. The appearance of Spears as the ‘naughty schoolgirl’ and in a leather cat-suit in early music videos played to the underlying fetishes of many observers and screamed “this is what women should be” (despite this being a supposedly outdated thought). The exaggeration of Pussycat Dolls as burlesque dancers, again, played into the raunchy fantasies of men and Girls Aloud – as very attractive women – appeared, all too often, in skimpy outfits and were choreographed to display their physical ‘assets’. While each of these examples of women in music are long past their peak (as their popularity and/or looks have faded), the likes of Katy Perry, Rihanna and Miley Cyrus all display comparable qualities to the aforementioned women.
What can be found throughout all of the evidence here is that women, for too long, have been ‘sold’ for their sexuality and physical appearance; not their voices, musical abilities and talents.
Final Thoughts
This article may be construed as a damnation of everyone in 2015 society. It is not. There are many people who are feminists – in the truest sense of the term – and this is encouraging. Many people see women as equal to men and the independent music scene is a place where this is most prevalent. Women turn up to play music and that is all. They aren’t there to show 80% of their bodies, they aren’t there to dance seductively and they aren’t expecting to lower and debase themselves to ‘make it’. The likes of Courtney Barnett and St. Vincent are where they are today because they stand up, with a guitar and a microphone, in front of an audience and play music. This is what this is all about: women and music. Come back to plasticmag tomorrow for the second half of this article (and a more positive piece on the signs of progression)!