FEATURE:
I’m a Feminist, But…
PHOTO CREDIT: Moose Photos/Pexels
Trying to Reverse My Male-Heavy Music Listening Habits
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ON the podcast…
PHOTO CREDIT: John Tekeridis/Pexels
The Guilty Feminist, there is this question asked of guests that starts “I’m a feminist, but…”, where the women interviewed reveal something that means there is this guilt or negative habit that maybe puts a dent in their feminism. For me, that very much applies to music. I am someone who promotes so many women on my blog. Most of my Spotlight features are about female artists. So many other features around women. Even if most of my content relates to women, my listening habits do not necessarily reflect that. Of course, I listen to the female artists that I promise. However, away from that, I tend to listen to mostly older music. A lot of that is from male artists. I was raised mostly on music by men. In the 1990s, a lot of what was promoted and put into music magazine was by male artists. Of course, there were some amazing women from that time that I loved and still listen to today. However, so much of my parents’ music is from men. Also, you get into this habit of falling back on what is comfortable and familiar. I explore new music as much as I can, though I find I have this awful habit of going to artists that I have heard so many times before. Maybe it is an issue with algorithms on streaming sites. The way you are regurgitated what you already listen to and there is not this more expansive and smarter way of discovering music. Spotify and others going beyond the recycled and predictable and feeding suggestions and interesting musical avenues. I do think I get into this cycle of relying on mixes and playlists suggested to me. This features a lot of male artists. As a feminist who finds it really important to promote and spotlight women, I feel this guilt of listening to more men than women. This is something I am compelled to change in years to come.
I do wish it were easier to have all these incredible new artists in one place. Streaming sites rely heavily on a small number of mainstream artists of today and classic acts. I often find that many of the artists from yesteryear that I love that were female-fronted or women tend to get buried. I would love to be able to have a daily listening schedule that meant there was this balance. However, I do find it harder and harder to. Many might say it is easy to change. Do we often gravitate towards music we grew up on? I am discovering a load of new music, though I tend to find I listen to that less than artist I have known for years. Not that it makes me a bad feminist, thought I do feel this regret. I need to do better and listen to more women. Go discovering incredible women that I have not yet written about. However, as I have said, streaming sites do not help with that. I need to expand my horizons and get out of some bad habits. It is Pride Month, so embracing more L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ women and trans women. Promoting their work and discovering their incredible music. I can’t blame entirely streaming services or habits we all have. I do feel this pang of guilt when I keep listening to male artists. Maybe others have this same regret. It is not necessarily bad that most of the songs I listen to are by men. However, as I am someone talking about gender equality and giving women more airtime and headline slots, it does seem a littler hypocritical that I listen to so many male artists. As much as anything, I am getting slightly bored of the way of I listen to music.
It is nice to have that access to a world of music. The nostalgia I get when listening to artists I grew up on. Whoever, I feel like I am depriving myself of so many incredible artists. These women from decades past and around today whose music I do not listen to enough – or at all. I am not sure what the best way is to engage that way and reverse the trend. However, I have come to a point where I am aware of the male bias when it comes to the music I listen to and the artists I promote and discuss – who are mostly female. As I write this, I am listening to the radio and HAIM are on. They are incredible group that I am well aware of and do not listen to enough. I have been talking about Kate Nash recently and do not listen to her enough. Artists I featured years ago such as GRACEY. Classic artists who I grew up with such as Madonna, I tend to play less than many of the groups I admired when I was a teenager. I do need to make a change but, once you get into this routine of leaning on the same songs, it can be very hard to break out of that. I do need to act. I am depriving myself of so much great music and, as much as anything, it is important to me that I give more time to female artists. Suggestions for classic and new artists would be much welcomed. I will dip into my archives of the artists I have spotlighted and try and listen to as many mixes and playlists where women dominate. Getting out of that headspace of going straight for the same songs and artists. I do genuinely have a lot of guilt. Me being this hypocrite! It does bug me. It asks a bigger question regarding music tastes. Do we tend to listen to less new music when we reach a certain age and tend to listen to the music of our childhood and teenage years? Maybe so. It is not really giving me much satisfaction listening to the same songs over and over. Because of that, I do need to listen more to music made by women. I feel that my listening experience will be…
RICHER for it.