Where Did All the Women Go?
A case for abolishing the "men only" lineup.
As promoters begin to welcome hordes of audiophiles back into once desolate venues, and the world haphazardly tries to get the wheels of capitalism turning at full speed, we’re still forced to face a malady of issues that were a problem far before COVID made them even more apparent.
The life of a rapper, producer, and frankly any artist within’ the current music landscape, is not one for the faint of heart; COVID made this field increasingly more treacherous with the past year involving many music venues being closed to the public and numerous ones shutting their doors due to losses that ultimately couldn’t be recouped. It was a substantial blow to the wallets and creative minds of an innumerable amount of artists across the world. Complementary to this, I can only imagine the number of musicians that had to find new means of employment behind the scenes, as a plethora of individuals were forced to go on unemployment for an undetermined amount of time. However, vaccines began to be produced & distributed, infection rates declined (emphasis on declined), and all of a sudden we were “outside”, participating in live shows once again. Seeing life return in various capacities is somewhat heartwarming (when people act with sense and empathy), but there have already been signs that we’re doomed to repeat the same ignorance that was already an incredibly large elephant in the room.
With the speedy resurgence of shows, particularly in the underground sector, we must rightfully pose this question: Where did all the women go? This question is not a new one nor is it a trick. If you’ve been to many a function across New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and frankly any other state throwing events en masse as of late, it’s glaringly apparent that there continues to be a lack of women representation on not only event lineups, but in some cases, within’ the crowd. COVID-19 restrictions definitely dug a hole for the entire music industry to capsize into, but many continue to overlook the gap in booking men and women, an issue that has seemingly continued to go unaddressed by various factions for sometime. Of course, not every promoter, venue, or group throwing an event has made this mistake, but it seems as though far too many are falling back into old ways. The same behaviors of corporations that change their logo during Pride month, only to revert back to “business as usual” once the month ends, is the exact same energy that many show runners across the underground and beyond seem to enact. As shows started to get a jumpstart once again, you couldn’t help but notice the same names of men appearing on countless fliers, with virtually no women gracing the bill.
Now before someone tries to retort to our previous statement, let me get this out the way now; one woman on the lineup is not enough! Shows should no longer be a case where it’s 90% men and 10% women represented in the performance makeup. We also have to take a moment to say that the lack of attention and awareness doesn’t always fall all the way on the shoulders of the performers booked (in the beginning); the acts that we see gaining notoriety and opportunities have rightfully put in work to get the recognition. That being said though, there has to be a collective consciousness that we ultimately tap into in addressing the constant injustice and freezing out of women in music spaces, across the entire spectrum, from mainstream to underground. Women have been stating for years that communities revolving around the arts don’t genuinely feel like safe spaces for them: From the lack of representation, to support still expressed for abusers, to the sheer fact that many a venue just feels like one large sausage fest. That last part, while sounding juvenile, is quite honestly the truth.
As if we already weren’t aware of this, the mainstream music realm is not immune to this level of misogyny. We've known this, but it seems as though troublesome practices happening prior to lockdown only seem to continue in our current “progressive” climate. Festivals like EDC Las Vegas & Lost Lands continue to fumble the bag across the entire board of diversity, with abysmally low levels of black & POC representation on top of the nearly nonexistent amount of women; in Lost Lands case, no women of color seem to exist and in EDC’s case, no black women.
Credit: TokenOfTheMonth, analysis of EDC LV & Lost Lands 2021 Lineups.
Continuing the trend of PML (Predominantly Male Lineups) is an unsavory habit that we need to start sensibly addressing in every room that we enter. Marquees casually chugging forward without a single woman on the bill, aid in the perpetration of a message that women are not fully taken into consideration within’ our communities. Unpacking that even further, black women in particular are once again found with an even larger hurdle to traverse in comparison to the slim pickings of representation that are given to women as a whole.
If there’s one thing that this COVID Variant Arc has brought to light, it’s that we truly have reached a crossroads in regards to cognizant involvement: Are we going to make a concerted effort to cultivate inclusive, safe environments for our female / non-binary counterparts? Or will the ones that quietly want to sustain the status quo continue to serve us the same rehashed sausage? Platforms & collectives such as GRLZ WKND, sweatystickysweet, Roadie Worldwide, Chilltown, In Plain Sight, nightslikethis (studios / radio), Echo World, & No Dought Radio are among some of the pillars across music communities actively working towards inclusion of women and marginalized peoples that seem to repeatedly be overlooked in an ever-changing music climate. I’m sure there are countless other groups scattered across the globe that are doing the best they can to create safe spaces for everyone willing to indulge the practices on our side of the moon, but the task requires wider attention and efforts.
On a historic average, we’ve repeatedly placed women on the fringes of society and expected them to give us unyielding love and support, with such toxic thinking being pardoned as “tradition”. Whether consciously or unconsciously, we (as men), have allowed practices we claim to be against to trickle into our own circles, while simultaneously branding ourselves as being a part of counter cultures that wouldn’t stand for those behaviors. It’s become more and more apparent to me that you’d more commonly find a woman that has experienced some type of harassment, abuse, or chauvinism at the hands of men than one who hasn’t. It’s in this realization where it isn’t too hard to piece two and two together on why an abundance of women wouldn’t feel comfortable at a variety of underground events, let alone mainstream functions.
The answer to this sprawling issue isn’t to simply pat yourself on the back for never putting a woman through intense emotional, physical, or mental turmoil: Continuously giving praise to women working to revolutionize their field, pressing promoters on why there’s a recurring lack of women on their flyers, and at times, giving up your space on the stage to those that have been grinding hard and deserve the recognition. All of these actions are small steps that when enacted on a large scale, can possibly create everlasting change. This also means stopping the clout chasing behavior of thirsting over features / co-signs from men who are clearly documented abusers, fluent in various forms of gaslighting. Those ad-libs, “spiritual miracle” bars, and horribly designed clothes are not worth you sacrificing your moral compass.
As we come to a close this time around, it’s 100% necessary to link you all to the work of some amazingly talented women across the lines of DJing, producing, and pure, unbridled artistry, that have been putting in their blood, sweat, & tears like none other.
