FEATURE
Boys Will Be Boys
IN THIS PHOTO: Dua Lipa
The Continuing Issue of Gender Disparity
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WHILST it is important to have some fun…
and keep things light at this time, I also feel it is key to keep things as close to normal as possible. It has been a while since I have penned a piece relating to sexism and gender imbalance and, whilst that might suggest an improvement in attitudes and the state of affairs, that is not necessarily the case. It is a shame that Glastonbury is not taking place this year, as their bill included more female artists than ever. I think matters will improve concerning gender balance at festivals, but what about general attitudes and perceptions? One would have hoped that, in 2020, we would not need to keep discussing gender inequality and the way women are perceived. I have mentioned Dua Lipa in a few recent pieces, for a number of different reasons. Today, I want to use her as an example of an artist who had to retreat and pull back from social media due to negativity and toxicity and, even though she has just unveiled one of the year’s best albums, Future Nostalgia, she has to contend with a lot of crap. Maybe it has been the way of things for many years when it comes to big Pop artists. Women especially are put under a lot of scrutiny; they are assumed to be less talented than men, and they are judged much more harshly. When women express their sexuality, they are often condemned, whereas men are not judged. In an interview with NME, Dua Lipa talked about her song, Boys Will Be Boys, and the fact women are set to different standards than men:
“In a new interview with The Sunday Times, Lipa discussed ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ – a new track from her ‘Future Nostalgia’ album – which explores men’s treatment of women, saying she hoped the song would start a “conversation” because these were “real things [she has] gone through.”
She continued: “Getting home from school, scared of boys, I put keys between my knuckles. We constantly change the way we are so we don’t get harassed. Cover our bodies so boys don’t say things. From when we are kids we are told the way boys act towards us is completely normal.
“There is a lot less scrutiny of male pop stars,” Lipa said, adding: “…the way women are described compared to men, it’s, like, she is wearing shorts? ‘She puts on a leggy display!’ I just feel I’m here because I do music, but when people write articles like that about me, it takes it away from my talent and makes me a thing. An object. People like to just objectify women”.
Dua Lipa is one of countless female artists who are objectified and marketed in a certain way. Whilst she has a say and some control regarding her album’s content and what her videos look like, she does not have any say regarding the media. Men have always garnered the most acclaim and biggest platforms, and there still seems to be a perception that women are only valid when they ae singing ballads or creating a weepy song – if they are independent, different or wield a guitar, then they are not taken as seriously (as men). Maybe there is slight improvement here and there, but I still feel many women are flying under the radar because they do not conform to the standards and ideals set by the industry. Maybe Pop music has struggled to break from the homogenised and sadder/slower is because that is what is required and, when a woman like Dua Lipa proffers something different, it is a struggle to get it heard. Certainly, women need to be seen as authentic and real – if they give us something experimental and upbeat, then hey are not going to be talked about in overly-positive tones. In another interview – this time with The Guardian -, Dua Lipa talked more about the subject of authenticity:
“Pop’s detractors like to point out that it is an industry where artists conform to conventions. In the immortal words of Eilish: duh. Lipa is a canny operator who understood that she had to play a certain game to reach the point where she could be herself. (Her ambition/achievement conversion rate is a big part of her aspirational appeal.) Lipa was surprised by the under-recognition of female talent at this year’s Brits – evidence, critics said, of the British industry’s inability to develop female talent – but she is pragmatic about what might seem like a conservative feeder system where new acts spew out singles and accept every possible collaboration. “Artists that are already well known get the upper hand, so you do have to get on those playlists as much as possible to be heard,” she says.
Lipa – who no longer goes on Twitter – did not respond. “I don’t like to apologise if I don’t believe I should be apologising for something,” she says now. “I believe in supporting women in all fields of work. Nothing at that party was derogatory; everyone was just dancing and having fun.” In our supposedly enlightened culture about sex work, she was surprised by the prudish response. “That’s something we all have to work on,” she says. “Not every sex worker is being forced to do something they don’t wanna do. I think a lot of the women found it really empowering and really like to dance.”
Women’s work is always undermined, says Lipa. “We all have to work a little bit harder to be taken seriously, but it’s not something that we’re not used to doing,” she says, rolling her eyes and grinning. She has pointedly described Future Nostalgia as “fun” even though she knows that is exactly the stick critics use to beat it with; that women in pop are only judged as “authentic” when they are weeping by the piano. “Time always tells,” she shrugs. “And in the meantime, I’ll just work for people to take me seriously”.
It is not just the tone of the music and the way women dress and act that we need to tackle. Age is a factor, too. I think men are commercially viable and accepted when they get into their thirties and forties but, when it comes to women, age is a huge factor.
IN THIS PHOTO: Rita Ora
Not only do women find their music excluded from certain stations’ playlists, but there is a sense of isolation from the media. It is not only in the field of Pop will one find a division between the way men and women are viewed. On social media, I see female artists across multiple genres explain how they are expected to record a certain type of song; they find it harder to get festival slots because there are all these guidelines and expectations. Before I move on, I want to bring in another NME interview – this one concerns Rita Ora. She spoke about her experiences with ageism:
“You stood up for Bebe Rexha when she spoke out against ageism in the music industry. Is that an issue close to your heart?
“The problem is that insecurity gets put onto you through comments that you read over the years. You start to think, ‘I’m not as young as I used to be. I’m not the fresh girl on the scene I once was’. I can proudly say, ‘Yeah – I use my looks because I’m very comfortable in my skin and I like my body’, but that gives people an opportunity to say: ‘Oh, well – you’re getting older’. I stand up for these girls because age really doesn’t matter – J. Lo had her first hit in her thirties. And men don’t get asked how old they are all the time!”
IN THIS PHOTO: Tiffany Calver
Women, unfortunately, have had to put up with this for a long time. I hope the rest of the year is dedicated, not only to rebuilding music and getting things back on track, but ensuring barriers are broken down, and women are taken much more seriously. As this interview with Tiffany Calver suggests, there are small movements in certain areas:
“Has much changed?
“What’s really interesting is that the listenership has kind of shifted a bit: it’s more equal now. Someone messaged me recently saying how I make women feel comfortable to go into a mosh pit, or go to a rap show, or be a DJ, or listen to the music they listen to because they didn’t really feel comfortable before. I’ve kind of co-signed it in a way, which is a really interesting perspective to have. But I can understand it: there’s never been someone that looks like me in England that does the show I do, so I guess it is refreshing to be in that position where I can kind of make a change in how people perceive women in rap.”
What else needs to be done to help break down barriers for women in music?
“It’s definitely progressing. There are still barriers that need to broken, unfortunately. There are so many areas, especially in music, where people lack an understanding of how to support and be allies in helping shift this weird, unequal balance between women and men. I think we’re so vocal and so aware of it now that as long as we keep making a big deal about it, it can’t really go away”.
Conversations are happening but, as women are under-represented in music, I do hope things will improve over the next year or two. Given the scope and wealth of female talent out there, we need to change attitudes towards women and ensure that they are given the respect they deserve. When we come out of lockdown, let’s aim to foster…
PHOTO CREDIT: @vidarnm/Unsplash
A more progressive and accepting industry.