Since 1776, recorded history of the United States shows women fighting for their rights and fighting for equality. It has been more than 90 years since women were first allowed to vote in the United States. It has been more than 50 years since most women started having occupations outside of the home. And it has been 60 years since the first Grammy awards were distributed.
The numbers continue except when researching another area — Hollywood, film, celebrities, and more. Specifically, the music industry.
Progress in gender equality in the music industry is questionable. A study by the University of Southern California found “a total of 90.7% of nominees between 2013 and 2018 were male, meaning just 9.3% were women.”
Yet, Recording Academy president Neil Portnow’s original response to the lack of women winning the Grammys was “Step up.” Now, this statement has been retracted and a new and improved statement has replaced it.
He says that the barriers women are facing in the music industry are ones men have never faced and it is up to the music industry to make women feel more welcome.
Whether or not the provoking comment was taken out of context or was a slip of the tongue, the numbers speak for themselves. One popular response was through social media. Twitter was one of the areas for the uproar to begin, with #grammysomale circulating.
Although this was the trigger to open up the eyes of some of the American people, when will be the time for ultimate change? For 60 years, the opportunity for women to win major awards in the music industry has not advanced.
Well, what about Beyonce, Miley Cyrus, Adele and Taylor Swift? Yes, women have advanced in being able to make a name for themselves. They have advanced in what they are allowed to sing about and what they are allowed to wear and how they perform onstage.
And so the obvious question is, why aren’t such women winning more of the awards that they deserve? Beyonce and Adele have had wins every couple of years but others have not. Miley Cyrus has appeared to have her “year” a couple of times, yet she has only been a Grammy nominee once in 2015 (with no win). Taylor Swift had many nominations but only started winning in 2010 (with wins every couple of years).
Why should these names be the first that come to mind with a pause to think about others who have possibly won? Whereas with men, the list can go on and they most likely have won more Grammy awards.
With the above facts in mind, women do not need to “step up” in receiving awards when many have gone through great turmoil and were well deserving of one. Let #grammysomale only be the beginning of advancement in one of many industries that are lacking in gender equality.
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