'Mothers Daughter' music video, Miley Cyrus
The music industry without a doubt has been a space dominated by cis men. It's simple: if you are a girl, men will never take you seriously in the music industry, it's as if the male audience doesn't understand that women and LGBTQ+ people can also rock.
Lately, radio stations have been a little more equitable by putting woman artists in their catalogue such as Billie Eilish, Halsey, Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus, etc. However, sexism is still more present than ever; it seems as if it's an epidemic that never ends.
We can notice that the gender split in the industry is around 70% male and 30% female. In the United States, only 15% of record companies are majority-owned by women. Furthermore, out of 20 classical orchestras, only one is conducted by a woman. In Canada it doesn't get any better; only 6% of the recognized producers are women and only 7% of the industry's sales and development staff are women.
Men tend to sing about sexual topics quite often, making it known that they have sex more than 10 times a day and with different people but... what about women? Well, as we all know, the world is not ready to accept that we have fun too! That's why songs like Cardi B's "WAP" (featuring Megan Thee Stallion) which is a no-holds-barred celebration of female desire overflowing with graphic sexual metaphors, and which has left the American right-wing hot and bothered by its "indecency" become a deadly weapon in these situations. Or even Miley Cyrus's "Mother's Daughter" whose video aesthetic celebrates femme bodily freedom and diversity, nor can we forget when Olivia Newton-John introduced sex in the gym with "Physical", a song responsible for thousands of people joining their local gym in search of action.
'WAP' music video, Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion
We can also notice the sexism present when it comes to managers. Let's remember the case of t.A.T. u, the famous Russian pop group, when Ivan Shapovalov, tired of his job, decided to delve into the internet and discovered the success of porn sites dedicated to lesbians and decided to take advantage of this morbid concept to adapt it to a pop product. After casting with 500 girls auditioning only 2 were chosen; Yulia and Lena, who at that time were minors and were not even lesbians. It was years later they could get rid of this manager who constantly abused their vulnerability.
The problem is that even though we women or LGBTQ+ people are capable and talented, cis heterosexual men will always question us as if we were not capable of doing anything. It is not that we know how to play an instrument better or worse than them, we do it in a unique way, and they are not able to assimilate it.
This, whether we like it or not, concerns everyone because it reflects a problem of representation that deepens one of the biggest industries in our society and makes it clear that democracy in the world of music does not exist.
However, not everything is ruined; We can fix this problem by daring, by showing the world what we are made of, by showing the world how much talent is inside us, not only in music but in many different fields.
'Physical' music video, Olivia Newton John
WAYS TO STOP SEXISM IN MUSIC as a woman musician, or someone who knows one:
1) Dare, discover, and explore what genres and melodies you feel more identified with, and start writing ideas that come to your mind.
2) Support your acquaintances, friends, family etc who also have a musical project, promote their music on social networks or in your favourite fanzines.
3) Discover new artists in your zone and support them, as you’d support your favourite bands.
4) Don't give up on your dreams of being a rockstar!
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