FEATURE:
Indent Right
IMAGE CREDIT: Book More Women
Is True Gender Equality and Headline Recognition Taking Steps Forward?
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THIS is a complex debate…
IMAGE CREDIT: Book More Women
but, as festivals are starting soon, one issue remains. The fact is that, when women have been releasing the best music for many years, they are not equal on the bills. If you look at most festival posters, there may be something close to a fifty-fifty split on some - but many are struggling to balance things. Also, many festivals do not feature a female headliner. You might get a female artists on the second of third line of the poster, but there are clear gaps and repeated oversights. If you think about all the terrific albums released by women over the past year – including Beyoncé, boygenius, Caroline Polachek, Lizzo, and female-fronted Paramore -, then there are definite options for headliners. I am going to come to reasons why progress might not be happening that fast. In terms of a glimmer of light, there are organisations and campaigns that highlight women and female-fronted acts that festivals could book. I have mentioned The F-List several times. The #BookMoreWomen campaign was set up to ensure festivals are more inclusive. They note that all-male acts account for 64% of all major U.S. festival line-ups. The statistic might be even more damning in the U.K. Progress is happening in the U.S. and U.K. regarding bills being more equal and diverse. Not only including more women, but non-binary artists and L.G.B.T..Q.I.A.+ acts. That being said, women included as headliners and high up the bill are still a minority. If one step is being taken forward, another is being taken back. Can it be too long before the headline narrative is reversed?
I titled this feature ‘Indent Right’, because to indent something means taking it away from the margins. If you are writing a headline, indent right would bring text closer to the centre. Rather than it me trying to be clever, it applies to how there are organisations that are being proactive and not only highlighting the statistics; they are writing about ways the industry can react and improve. Rolling Stone asks whether the Book More Women Campaign has made a difference:
“ABBEY CARBONNEAU WAS staring at the lineup poster for the Firefly Music Festival back in 2018 when she noticed something that pissed her off: of the first 23 artists named on the poster of the seven-stage, three-day Delaware festival, only one was a woman.
Carbonneau, a Massachusetts native, sat down at her computer determined to call out the imbalance. With a little effort, she redacted the names of the all-male acts from the poster — and without all those young dudes, the lineup suddenly looked mostly blank. She saved the poster, opened Instagram, and shared it from a new account she called Book More Women, tagging Firefly.
“I saw a problem that is way bigger than I am, but I used what I had — social media, basic photo editing skills, and a little anger — to attempt to start a conversation about it. It felt like a tiny push of a big, complicated, frustrating rock, but maybe that’s all it takes sometimes to get things moving,” Carbonneau tells Rolling Stone.
IN THIS PHOTO: Brandi Carlile
As of 2022, Carbonneau has posted more than 400 different doctored festival posters to Book More Women, blacking out any act that does not include at least one woman or non-binary musician as a permanent member. Many of the posters have gone viral for their striking visual representation of how few of these acts are booked on festival stages. In the process, Book More Women has amassed a passionate online following, including artists like Brandi Carlile, Margo Price, and Lucius, who have praised the account for bringing attention to the issue. Carlile was even inspired to launch her own all-women festival, Girls Just Wanna Weekend, now in its fourth year.
Still, while online movements for social equity like Book More Women have gained steam, social media activism has also been criticized for breeding “slacktivism” — where support for a cause is signaled by likes and retweets but not through meaningful action. And social-media shaming to hold an individual or organization accountable has been hotly debated for its tendency to ostracize, rather than reform.
So, with the 2023 festival season approaching, what impact has Book More Women made when it comes to gender equity on stages, and has that impact gone beyond mere retweets and putting men on the defensive?
This speaks to how music festivals are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to women and non-binary representation in the industry. In fact, the industry often drives out underrepresented artists long before they make it to the festival level. According to folk singer Maya Elise, who has yet to play many festivals, misogyny, both subtle and overt, from bookers, sound engineers, and male audience members is commonplace at her gigs. “You just get him over and over again,” she says. “Some guy [who comes] up after a show like, ‘Hey, that was a lot better than I thought it was going to be.’”
IMAGE CREDIT: Book More Women
At the same time, women and non-binary artists are out there in search of festival slots, and by affording them opportunities to perform, festivals can help lower the barrier of entry and improve their experience in the industry. Which is why Book More Women remains committed to highlighting booking blind spots as a way to bring diversity and inclusion to festivals. The industry is taking notice.
“It wasn’t that there was no awareness, I just don’t think we were really keeping a tally on it,” Stephanie Mezzano, a promoter with AEG and founder/director of Firefly Music Festival, says. When Mezzano first saw how few women acts were on their 2018 poster via Book More Women’s call-out, she was surprised, particularly because she says she considers Firefly to be a diverse event.
“We thought we’re obviously booking artists that fit our genre and fit our festival in our hopes that they would sell tickets, [but] I think for her to put our poster out there the way she did really made it clear that there was a lack of representation,” Mezzano says.
Powell, who says he’s long strived to make Lollapalooza’s lineup diverse, found the breakdown of the festival’s 2018 lineup on Book More Women illuminating.
“Sometimes you think you’re hitting all your diversity…goals, but you might not be,” he says. “I never really thought about what the actual end number was on a given show and I think that Book More Women was kind of a reality check”.
IMAGE CREDIT: Glastonbury Festival
I do think that it is disturbing and appalling that there is this pipeline issue. Women who are starting out and breaking through have to overcome so much. Whether that is a lack of booking opportunities because they are a women, harassment, and abuse, or not being marketed and promoted correctly or as heavily as male counterparts, there is a lot of potential that does not make it to the radars of festival organisers. Look at posters for smaller festivals around the U.S. and U.K., and they are showing that equality is possible. Even though it is not the case at every small/medium-sized festival, they are booking more female headliners and striving to make their bills fifty-fifty. Larger festivals like Coachella in the U.S. and Glastonbury in the U.K. and still struggling. The Book More Women website features posters from festivals of 2022 and this year. They have taken out all the male-only acts and left the women. There are a lot of gaps! They include acts that include women, so you might have bands that are still male-heavy. Regardless, if you take the male artists away from the bills, there are not many female acts and women to be found! It is getting a little better, although the headline slots are still the ones where women are not being included as much as they should! I think it will be the case where 2024 is the year all festivals need to adapt and improve.
IN THIS PHOTO: Miley Cyrus/PHOTO CREDIT: Vijat M
If Glastonbury was criticised for having no female headliners this year – I know Guns N’ Roses has a female member in the touring band and Lizzo is sort of ‘co-headlining’ -, then they should not be singled out. Even if there are pipeline issues and maybe not the stock of potential female headliners that was hoped for, a couple of things need to be remembered. As I have said before, festivals make their own rules as to who constitutes a festival act. There is no bar or strict requirement in terms of album sales and years in the business. If Glastonbury booked Billie Eilish to headline last year – making her the youngest solo headliner ever , then they could well book a female artist like Lizzo, Lana Del Rey, Beyonce, Miley Cyrus, or Paramore. It is also not the case festival headliners need to be Rock, Indie or ‘heavy’. Ed Sheeran has headlined Glastonbury (in 2017), so there is not a minimum decibels qualification. Also, there is ample choice when it comes to names and availability. If Taylor Swift was unavailable for Glastonbury this year, there are more than enough names to take her place. I know there is a similar problem in the U.S. Statistics show that improvements are happening when it comes to the overall bill, if not the headline slots. It is important that festivals ensure 2024 is the final year where we are talking about gender inequality. Even if the Rolling Stone report from February says there is a long way to go until there is equality, then champions, social media posts and the likes of the #BookMoreWomen campaign do offer…
A glimmer of hope.