Sexism in Music: The Discrimination of Female Musicians

At age 15 I realised how women are outsiders in music. I lugged around my acoustic guitar in a dusty case for my GCSE class and after school guitar lessons to be asked "Can you actually play it though?"

I had spent hours on end in a tiny bedroom with my second-hand guitar learning chords and putting them together and teaching myself how to read tabs. So much of my time and effort went into learning music, in exactly the same way my male peers did, yet it was doubted I knew anything at all, mostly due to the fact I was a teenage girl. 

A photograph of myself playing my first ever solo gig at age 16

Although in 2019 we have come on leaps and bounds when it comes to equality, there still seems to be this weird attitude towards female musicians. Women are either not taken seriously or sexualised and plucked apart from their fellow male band members.

Growing up, my favourtie band had always been Paramore. I have watched the criticism of Hayley Williams for doing small solo projects such as her collaboration with artist B.O.B on the 2010 track ‘Airplanes’ and again when she teamed up with Zedd on ‘Stay the night’ in 2012. There always seems to be this idea that Hayley would go solo or that she somehow feels she is ‘superior’ to her fellow band mates when there is no actual evidence of this. Infact, Hayley has always been very clear on the fact she would never want to be a solo artist and shows nothing but love and support for her band mates. In an interview in 2014 with ‘Radio.com’ Williams stated, “My priority will always be Paramore.” 4 years later and nothing has changed. The idea that female vocalists see themselves as superior is a sexist, outdated ideology and singles out women rather than letting them be as equals among other musicians. 

This scrutinisation of a woman’s intentions within a band has been around for decades, yet only shows little progression to see artists like Hayley as genuine, solid members of their bands. Even when a female artist has been part of a band for years, the media then feels entitled to question their femininity and sexuality as this must be a reason why they’ve stuck around, right? They must be more masculine and ‘one of the guys’ to fit in, right? Ridiculous. 

Women can be passionate about heavy guitar riffs, vocalists who fry scream, sweaty crowds and mosh pits yet still love make-up, styling their hair and wearing dresses. Quite frankly, it’s nobody’s business how women choose to look or who they choose to date, and it’s nobody’s position to doubt them within their hobbies and careers without good reason to.

Image from Unsplash

Here is my advice: If you attend a gig where a band member or artist is female, don’t question their sexuality, don’t sexualise or harass them and don’t assume they think they’re better than their other band members or other musicians. What you should do is view them as equal, view them as a musician not a sex symbol or the face of their band, judge them only on musical talent and their actual ability to play or sing and not how they look. And finally, Most definitely, do not say the words “She’s good for a woman” because she isn’t, she’s a good musician and that’s all you need to say.