There's a lot of talk about sexism in music. To be honest I don't work in music, so I have no idea if Lady Gaga was wearing a meat dress to be provocative or because her manager told her she needed to make sure a certain percentage of her skin was on show at all times and that was the dress that fitted those requirements. Either way I'm sure the bottom line was about sales. It seems nowadays you sell music through sex, through controversy, or, preferably, both.
People aren’t just judged on their talent anymore, because they have to sell magazine covers, posters, and films as well and who wants to look at someone ugly? Sure there are the ‘real’ girls, but are you telling me that all girls with real curves look like Beyonce? Or that Adele’s isn’t stunning in her own right? (And not in a ‘oh I’m a woman of course I think she’s nice’ way, I mean in a ‘I spent so long staring at your eyes in the first Rolling in the Deep video I didn’t actually hear any of the song’ way). Because let’s be honest, music is akin to Hollywood and there are no ugly girls in Hollywood. If you look average (or worse) you aren’t going to get a pop record deal, end of.
Let’s just say there are three kinds of girls – there’s the bog basic, hot and sexy; the Beyonces (cos I’m sorry ‘real curves’ or not Beyonce is absolutely stunning and there is no way in hell she represents the average girl with legs like those). Next you have the ‘real’ girls, who shall now be known as ‘Adeles’. And, finally there is the relatively new phenomenon of ‘perhaps only average looking but deliberately (and often sexually) provocative and perfectly OK with flashing most of their skin at once’; the Gagas. Now we can at once start fitting girls into these categories. Rihanna= Beyonce, Beth Ditto = Adele, Nicki Minaj = Gaga, Brittney = Beyonce etc. Blah blah blah. Look, I’m not the first person to say this and I won’t be the last. What really interests me is the guys.
Let’s be honest, if Justin Bieber had bad hair and acne he would not be half as popular as he is. Ditto One Direction, or any other pop sensation currently taking over the Trending Topics. In fact I would argue a guy has no more chance of being successful in pop if he can’t be an appropriate poster boy than any of the girls do. Just because your posters are trying to cater for teenage girls instead of middle aged men shouldn’t make them any less degrading, it doesn't change the direction of the photographers.
In fact it’s possibly even worse for the guys because in general they aren’t even allowed to fight this path on their own. They have to be part of boy bands and effectively COMPETE for the attention with their co-stars. If another guy is sexier maybe they can try and play the ‘bad guy’ or ‘the cute one’. And if they don’t fulfil this role adequately then I’m sure there are other guys out there who can hold a mic, look hot and dance at the same time. Being in a group makes you more easily replaceable, and yet given the current female domination of the market, being in a group for a guy is also the greatest chance you have of becoming a pop star, so you’re really going to have to fight if you want to stay there. Or learn to rap.
But then the rappers aren’t coming off that lightly. They too have to look after their appearance. Sure rappers brag about how they can now afford the personal trainers to get them looking buff, or the posh suits to make them look smart, or the chains to make them look cool. But it can’t be true that all of them want to dress like that (just like it can’t be true all the girls supposedly hate dressing slutty) or that they all want to spend 4 hours a day in the gym. Their image is as much defined by media stereotypes as that of the girls. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were stories on Plan B’s new ‘svelte’ figure just before his next album drops or perhaps something about Ed Sheeran smartening up for the next movie première.
Except maybe I would be surprised because although the gossip magazines talk about it, the expectation for men to look good seems to be a lot more hidden. There’s lots of talk about how ‘it’s so easy for men’ or how men are allowed to get old gracefully but it can’t be so easy for everyone. Perhaps it’s not two hours in the gym every morning, two hours for hair and make-up and an hour of carefully considered little black dress selection just for a five minute TV appearance, but maybe it’s 3 hours in the gym every morning, a 30 minute carefully considered anti-acne facial regime, a trip to the barber’s and an hour of carefully considered pink shirt selection so that you fit on the right side of metro sexual but not too close to ‘gay’. (And let’s not even get started on the rules for gays and gender undefined people in music. Just read this if you want to know more.)
Now like I said at the start – I don’t work in music. I’m also not a guy. So I don’t really know what happens as far as male sexism in music is concerned. But I can’t help but think that something isn’t right when two legitimate music headlines are allowed to be ‘Adele cancels US tour’ and ‘Tupac sex tape leak’. Given that any ‘music’ headlines should be about the music.
What’s more, let’s go back to that third group of girls; the Gagas. I’m one of those people who doesn’t actually think Gaga is attractive (either in a sexy way or a girly ‘nice’ way) but let’s be honest; she’s found a way to break the pop sexism barrier IN SPITE of this. Just to be so over the top no one actually cares what you look like, they care what everyday object you’re employing to not entirely cover up your skin this time. And it’s something other girls are copying too. (Check this article on Before Gaga and After Gaga for more.)
This gives us an interesting dilemma; if the girls can just dress crazy to escape the sexism (and what’s more – it is actually this that is expected of them at the minute, and whether it involves copious flesh flashing or not seems to be optional) then where does that leave those people who think pop sexism is harder for girls than guys? There doesn’t seem to be the same get-out-of-jail-free card out there for them at the minute.
I’m not trying to say that guys have it worse than girls in music. I’m also not trying to say girls are not subjected to sexism in pop and that there is no longer a requirement to be attractive in order to be successful. All I’m trying to say is that perhaps the situation is changing, and that much as the stereotypes of what is ‘sexy’ or ‘cool’ change, then perhaps it might be time to update your stereotype of what is sexism in music and what is choice. Just a thought.
