I once heard that I do not listen to enough music by female artists.
Being that I care for my musical tastes to be diverse and eclectic, I was shocked that my inclusivity of women was lacking. I have a good number of female artists or lead vocalists in my music collection, yet that doesn't count? I though, "must my ratio be in favor of women to win this concept?"
I also thought about how there are simply fewer women in the music industry than men. It can't be my fault if there is a poor ratio of total options in existence.
Some things to consider: it is important (in feminism) to work toward equality, often at an extreme. This includes supporting FEMALES over males, even if the product is of less quality (this is not an implication that such a reality exists, but that one could liken it to a startup product like solar panels that need adoption in the early years to provide the revenue for further development) - providing the space for space's sake as well as for improvement of the art is something that was always afforded to men. There is also responsibility on the women making the art not to squander the limelight, but make a good name for all of womankind (as opposed to chasing money while a fab allows you to be 'hip')
Then it dawned on me the other day that, in spite of me making a concerted effort to increase the voice (and influence) of women in my life, I will be enduring an uphill battle. One must actively seek out the influence that is not mainstream. The specific instance was when I set up an automatic playlist on Spotify based on Imogen Heap. Can you guess how often I heard a woman's voice? One out of four songs. This ratio implies a few things. Either the algorithms that are spawned for me personally are skewed to my overall listening history (which often includes a lot of men or instrumentals), the algorithms to create a playlist do not include a metric for "female vocalist" or the like, or there is an active misogyny at play in the music industry to shut out the voices of (non-mainstream) voices (because, lets be honest, mainstream wants power singers to arise every so often, like Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne, Adele, Beyonce, etc.. for the easy money, but it leaves out actual power houses like Amanda Palmer, Caroline Rose, Björk, Anaïs Mitchell, etc..)
I can't possibly list all the female artists that deserve more time, consideration, and attention from the public at large. However, what I do like is seeing more understanding of the poorly built understanding of "normal" - even in politics (I'm thinking Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's [more lovingly known as AOC] commentary [link] about women being 'too emotional')
Go and explore good art made by women. Dig deep, find meaning, and enjoy the emotions.
Cheers.
Being that I care for my musical tastes to be diverse and eclectic, I was shocked that my inclusivity of women was lacking. I have a good number of female artists or lead vocalists in my music collection, yet that doesn't count? I though, "must my ratio be in favor of women to win this concept?"
I also thought about how there are simply fewer women in the music industry than men. It can't be my fault if there is a poor ratio of total options in existence.
Some things to consider: it is important (in feminism) to work toward equality, often at an extreme. This includes supporting FEMALES over males, even if the product is of less quality (this is not an implication that such a reality exists, but that one could liken it to a startup product like solar panels that need adoption in the early years to provide the revenue for further development) - providing the space for space's sake as well as for improvement of the art is something that was always afforded to men. There is also responsibility on the women making the art not to squander the limelight, but make a good name for all of womankind (as opposed to chasing money while a fab allows you to be 'hip')
Then it dawned on me the other day that, in spite of me making a concerted effort to increase the voice (and influence) of women in my life, I will be enduring an uphill battle. One must actively seek out the influence that is not mainstream. The specific instance was when I set up an automatic playlist on Spotify based on Imogen Heap. Can you guess how often I heard a woman's voice? One out of four songs. This ratio implies a few things. Either the algorithms that are spawned for me personally are skewed to my overall listening history (which often includes a lot of men or instrumentals), the algorithms to create a playlist do not include a metric for "female vocalist" or the like, or there is an active misogyny at play in the music industry to shut out the voices of (non-mainstream) voices (because, lets be honest, mainstream wants power singers to arise every so often, like Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne, Adele, Beyonce, etc.. for the easy money, but it leaves out actual power houses like Amanda Palmer, Caroline Rose, Björk, Anaïs Mitchell, etc..)
I can't possibly list all the female artists that deserve more time, consideration, and attention from the public at large. However, what I do like is seeing more understanding of the poorly built understanding of "normal" - even in politics (I'm thinking Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's [more lovingly known as AOC] commentary [link] about women being 'too emotional')
Go and explore good art made by women. Dig deep, find meaning, and enjoy the emotions.
Cheers.
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