There are many industries
that are traditionally patriarchal and that it required waves of inter gender
warfare in order to establish a foothold for the fairer sex. But women were
standing in the spotlight of the music industry while the icon of the career
woman was a secretary who bags the boss.
So why, when they have been taking
leading roles for so long, does men’s presence and respect in the world of
modern music far out-weigh that of women’s.
The recent Rolling Stone Top 100 Most Influential Musicians features
only 11 women. The highest ranking being Aretha Franklin at number 9 and the
next being Madonna farther down the ranks at 36. Both are vocalists.
The major success for women
in music is disproportionately in the field of vocals as opposed to another
instrument.
It must be conceded that
some genres are more balanced than others, (the chats are usually close to a
50/50 balance) but in the Rock, Metal and Electronic scenes women make fleeting
and frequently unwelcome appearances. In Blues and Jazz they feature largely as
vocalists or pianists but rarely as guitarists, percussionists or brass
instrument players.
They are out there. A few
obvious ones spring to mind - D’Arcy (Smashing Pumpkins) and Courtney Love or
Shortee (Scratch DJ), and they are every bit as talented as their male
counterparts. But in terms of presence and acclaim the fairer sex is not on a
par. The question is why?
Give me
a list of the ten best male and ten best female, vocalists, guitarists,
bassists, drummers and DJ’s. Now the chances are that even the most militant
bra-burner will have to admit defeat in terms of superiority on the entire
above save perhaps on vocalists.
A
drummer friend of mine once told me that he didn’t believe women could be great
drummers or lead guitarists. His reasoning had to do with women’s upper body
strength being weaker than men’s. Fair point, a simple fact, simply stated. But
I’d hedge a bet that Lenny Kravitz and Prince would strongly disagree. Both of
these guys have hired amazing female drummers, Cindy Blackman and Cora
Coleman-Dunham. But again the business is not exactly over flowing with female
drummers. That does not mean they are not capable of being equivalent in
ability but let’s face facts the general perception is drums are for guys.
As for
female guitarists, they are a more common occurrence. Peggy ‘Lady Bo’ Jones is
credited with being the “Queen Mother of Guitar” A well deserved title. She
dropped jaws when she played with Bo Diddley in the 50’s and 60’s. She paved
the way for many more to follow and along came the likes of Joan Armatrading,
Joni Mitchell, Chrissie Hynde, more recently Brody Dalle, Marie Stern and many
more. The list of talent goes on. But none of them feature on the top ten best
of all time alongside Hendrix, Page and Clapton.
In terms of Bassists, Kim
Gordon from Sonic Youth pretty much nailed it. And since her women bassists
have been frequent, talented, respected and at worst adequate but a bit of
decent eye candy. Kim Deal form the
Pixies and D’Arcy are others whose skills have not gone unnoticed. But again
despite their credibility rarely make appearances above 50 on a top 100 list,
which are dominated by the likes of Peter Hook, Phil Lynott and Tim Commerford.
In the electronic scene
again there are some serious skills to be seen from the ladies. Shortee and DJ
Heather considered being among the top Scratch and House DJ’s respectively and
Annie Mac and DJ Lucca in breaks and techno too. A lot of DJ’s and fans of electronic music I
have spoken to have said that they don’t judge talent on a gender basis and
many are quick to name their favorite female DJ’s in any particular genre. But
the polls say otherwise. In 2007 only
one female DJ made it into the industry’s most respected Top 100 in DJ
magazine. It was Lisa Lashes and she came in at a whopping No. 99, in 2008 she
moved to 83 and last year and last year she stood alone once again, one in a
hundred at 75.
They are out there, they are talented but they still don’t command the
same reverence as the men.
Are most women really happy
to be the ‘great woman’ behind the great man or wide-eyed star-struck groupies?
And if not what’s stopping them from taking centre stage? Is it a confidence
issue? Are men somehow excluding them? Or, dare I say it? Are women, beyond
singing, quite simply not as musically talented as men?
One train of thought
elaborates on my drummer friends’ theory – that women’s physics are more suited
to some instruments than others. In terms of vocals it is considered that women
usually have a larger range to work with. Perhaps making it more understandable
that their prominence as singers being their main form of success more
understandable.
As for the idea of
upper-body strength – According to fitness experts it has been reasonably well
established that practice is not unlike exercise and the more you do it, the
more you are capable of doing it. The strongest woman in the world can bench
press 600lbs, it took her 12 year of training to do it, by comparison guitars
come in anywhere between six and ten pounds on the scales. I think after a few
years practice/training your average ‘chick’ could manage to play a while
without collapsing under the weight of a Les Paul or Stratocaster.
The idea put forward by many
prominent feminists is that music made by men is largely for made for men.
Unfortunately women are geared towards doing the same thing. They are accused
of selling their sexuality to horny blokes and girls who use them as mentors to
do the same or icons they love to hate. In terms of the Pussycat Dolls and
their like it’s hard to refute the argument.
Janis Joplin was voted the
‘ugliest guy in college’ and I’ve yet to hear her described as a hot’, but is
widely considered to be among one of the best artists of all time. One of the
most respected and talented producers of Hip Hop Missy Elliot is never seen
scantily clad, doe-eyed, pouting and posing like her career depends on it. You
know, there might be something in the feminist mantra of ‘truly talented women
don’t sell themselves through sex’.
It is of course possible
that it is a social marketing issue. We are well out of the dark ages and women
are playing on the same field as men in plenty of arenas. But in when it comes
to playing football and playing music they are not taken quite as seriously as
when strutting around the office in a power-suit.
The truth is that is
probably a little of all of the above in different degrees. But the day when
females’ presence and respect matches that of men’s still seems a long way off.
. However it is easier for women now than it was for their mothers and so it
goes it will be easier for the coming generation. We can only anticipate that
in terms of higher number of respected and highly influential musicians in the
modern genres, women’s presence will grow and add a new dimension. But for now, regardless of the reality of something
being superior, it is perception that determines something’s value.
In the course of my research I came across this
article and it still makes me laugh -
By Niamh Kirk
Published on www.highway67.net, March 2010.
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