Women in the music industry are held to much higher expectations than most male artists. When you look at the difference between the two genders in music, it’s almost laughable how stark the comparison is. Whether it be performance quality, music videos, or even just fashion, female artists are expected to outshine themselves with every show, while male artists are taken as what they are.
Let’s start with performance level. If you’ve ever seen a Beyoncé performance, you’ll know exactly what I mean when I say that female artists have demonstrated some of the most elaborate shows that the music industry has ever seen. Backup dancers, extreme lighting, the whole nine yards. But have you ever noticed that most male artists barely move when they’re on stage? Male artists more often than not “perform” by just standing behind a microphone on stage while on the flip side female artists are expected to sing while physically performing, whether it be dancing or in Ariana Grande’s case, riding a standing bicycle at the 2016 VMAs. This concept is in fact demonstrated in numerous award show segments where female artists take on the role of entertainer of the night while male artists become more of a wholesome heartthrob.
My favorite example of this is what I like to call the battle of Simon Cowell. Both One Direction, a boy band created by Cowell within X-Factor, and Fifth Harmony, a girl group created in the same way, have no initial difference aside from their gender. Ideally, both groups would have the same style and success rate, right? Wrong. While One Direction was able to win the hearts of teenage girls across the world with silly tour performances and cheesy love songs, Fifth Harmony was locked down with intense dance rehearsals and sexualized costuming in order to fit the expectation of women in the music industry. In the two videos below you can see exactly this, Fifth Harmony must stick to their strict choreography throughout the entire song even with an added dance break at the end while One Direction act like playful school boys roughing it up in the backyard.
When it comes to fashion, music videos and style go hand in hand. Female artists are sexualized in almost all genres of music videos whether it be songs they sing themselves or male artists flaunting women in their own visuals. Music videos like “Toxic” by Britney Spears film the artist in tight, revealing clothing throughout the whole song, distracting viewers from the lyrics describing the toxic nature of Spears’ love interest. The sexualization is clearly to draw as much attention as possible, to get the most views, to get the most streams. But why is it that male artists are able to sit in a chair with a guitar for a music video and have it get the same attention? This question can be answered in a number of ways but unfortunately it is true that male artists get to have more creative say on how they are presented as a brand while female artists are limited to what their label will approve of.
For example, in the movie A Star is Born this concept is perfectly represented in the transition of Ally as an authentic woman with a singing talent to Ally as a “pop star” forced by her label to dye her hair, change her sound, and perform with back up dancers. In reality, many female artists are faced with the difficult bind of their creatives dictating what they think the artist should look like versus what the artist would actually like. This often leads to many female artists quitting music all together and in the worst case scenarios, sexual assault becomes an issue due to the artist being branded as a “sex object” rather than a human being.
Female artists are not only scrutinized in performance, style, and videos, they are also heavily criticized for the content of their songs. Women in the music industry are expected to influence the good in younger generations, limiting what artists are able to express in their music without receiving backlash. While male artists are able to write about sexual pleasures across every genre with no question, female artists are held to the responsibility of being role models for young girls and are therefore shamed for any sexual liberation expressed through song. While I won’t be getting into specific lyrics, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion are facing this hate with their song “WAP” due to the lyrics being sexually explicit while for once describing a woman’s desires instead of a mans. This criticism is more hypocritical than not considering songs like “Candy Shop” by 50 Cent and “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke explicitly describe sexual metaphors, even alluding to rape culture. Female artists are expected to be the perfect role models while male artists can sing as explicitly as they want without having the expectation to censor themselves for younger generations.
Madonna in her Billboard Woman of the Year acceptance speech
The double standard women face in the music industry in almost every category is astounding considering the progress society has made with gender roles. In every show, video, and song, female artists are expected to do no wrong. They must look sexy enough to draw in audiences but modest enough to be a good influence for younger generations. They must perform elaborate shows but not so that every other follow up performance will be lackluster. These unrealistic expectations of female artists are limiting any destruction of gender roles, instead enforcing these harmful ideas into younger generations by feeding it to them through the susceptible platform that is music.
Questions
Why do you believe these high expectations for women in the music industry are still being held when society has supposedly progressed past typical gender roles?
Do you think these expectations are set by audiences or music labels?
Do you believe women could succeed in the music industry if they were to go against expectation ? Do you know any examples?
Sources:
Double Standard-Sexualization in the Music Industry
Mediated Pop 
I think the music labels are to blame for holding women in the music industry to such a high standard. They see the audience likes when an artist puts on such a performance, so the label wants to go to the next level and put on an even more extravagant production for their next performance. All of these labels are competing with each other to get the most sales. All they care about is money, they really don’t care about how the artist feels.
I was a huge Fifth Harmony stan when they were active, and I can definitely say they were not happy with their contracts. Their label had such a low budget for them and gave them terrible costumes and props to use on tour. I thought their choreography was good, but it was too much for them. They were dancing for almost two hours non stop, and sat down to sing probably one song. I saw them on tour three times, and I felt like I paid for a dance performance more than a music concert. The girls were miserable half the time, and they couldn’t get out of their contracts.
I think labels should take a step back and let the artist have control of how they want their music and concerts to go. If they don’t want to shake their bodies for hours, then let them. If they want to dance the whole time, then let them too! These labels should not hold artists to such a high standard, it just makes all women compete against each other. We should be inspiring and empowering each other, not being pit against one another to have more fans.
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I really loved all the points you made in this post. I loved the way you broke down all the different elements that go into making music and pointed out why women have a disadvantage in all of them. I think that when it comes to women in the music industry, they have always had to take the extra step to make it. Back when women were still looked at as being less superior to men, they would have to make an extraordinary gesture or have an over the top performance to get looked at by anyone. This double standard has continued to follow women to the present day. When it comes to the music itself, women in the past have always had to present themselves as prim and proper while boys “will just be boys” and get away with saying or doing anything. Now that women are more comfortable talking about their own sexuality, people label them inappropriately even though their male counterparts are doing the same thing. This opened my eyes to a lot of things that are still wrong in the music industry and I hope with these new artists and voices coming in, we will see some significant change soon.
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I think women can succeed in the music industry without all of the hoopla. A lot of my favorite artists are women and they don’t really submit to the standard expectations of the music industry. These artists, however, don’t really gain the same attention as the Beyonce’s or the Ariana Grande’s. I feel like that’s the price of fame. You have to give up something to “make it big” the way people see on TV and dream about when they’re kids. It kind of reminds me of the way my dad talks about old bands like R.E.M, how they got a little bit of fame and then sold out to chase the fame for as long as they could. Bands that sell out like that are sacrificing something in the process, whether it’s the quality of their music or the sense of camaraderie within the band, there’s always some sort of cost.
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“Female artists are sexualized in almost all genres of music videos”. I loved your article, although I have a doubt. You say that they are sexualized, but they say that they are free to fill their video with sex appeal. Chlöe Bailey, Normani and Iggy Azalea for example.
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