FEATURE:
Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowgirls
IN THIS PHOTO: Carrie Underwood lost out to Garth Brooks in the Entertainer of the Year category at the CMA Awards on Wednesday, 13th November, 2019, a snub which provoked a lot of anger on social media/PHOTO CREDIT: Carrie Underwood
The Ongoing Problem of Sexism and Misogyny in Country Music
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THERE are few genres where…
IN THIS PHOTO: Garth Brooks/PHOTO CREDIT: Garth Brooks
women are given the same opportunities as men and treated as fairly. In terms of subscription, Rap, Hip-Hop and Grime are still hugely dominated by men. Many say these are genres women are not interested in; I maintain the reason relatively few women are stepping into these genres is because of attitudes towards women in the lyrics and the sense that they will not get the same opportunities as men. Most of the biggest chart hits are written by men and, when you look around, there are questions that need to be asked when it comes to pay gaps, equality and attitudes. I do feel that the industry as a whole will move closer to parity in the next few years. It is hard to make instant change, but I get the feeling those in power men, mainly) are not doing enough. When it comes to genres where women are marginalised and have to fight to be heard, Country is right near the top. We do not really have a big Country scene in the U.K. – in terms of popularity and profitability -, and most of the major stars are based in the U.S. I have written about Country music’s problem with sexism and misogyny previously this year but, having read news that Carrie Underwood was overlooked in favour of Garth Brooks for Entertainer of the Year at the CMA Awards, it brought the topic back to mind.
One can say that, in a category dominated by men, you’d expect a man to walk away with the prize. Garth Brook is a Country legend, but he did not release an album in 2019 and has only played about five shows. Conversely, Carrie Underwood has released a successful album Cry Pretty, last year and has performed on a world tour. Whilst some might say Brooks’ reputation makes him deserving of the award, it does raise questions why Underwood, who has performed a lot over the past year, was ignored in favour of an artist who was comparatively sedate. Country stations in the U.S. have not made huge leaps regarding their playlists. This article in Rolling Stone explains more:
“When it comes to the lack of gender parity at country radio, there are many forces at play, and many ways to analyze the data, from a casual glance at festival lineups to the recent report from Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative that took a look at the Billboard Hot Country Charts, which comprises sales and streaming. But perhaps nothing gives a more clear picture than statistics gleaned from the Mediabase Country Airplay charts themselves, which has not been the subject of its own independent study until now.
Dr. Jada Watson of the University of Ottawa, in consultation with WOMAN Nashville, released today a report called Gender Representation on Country Format Radio: A Study of Published Reports from 2000-2018, the first study to explicitly examine Mediabase data. One of the two airplay-monitoring systems tracking country radio — the other is Nielsen’s BDS, which is used in Billboard‘s charts — Mediabase’s country charts are published weekly in the Nashville trade magazine Country Aircheck and used as the basis for countdown shows such as Country Countdown USA and American Country Countdown with Kix Brooks.
The outcome of the new report is dismal, and puts the onus on country radio tastemakers themselves. According to the report, women in the country music industry hear phrases like the below everyday when it comes to why they’re not represented on the airwaves:
Studying 150 songs from the year-end reports from the period of 2000 to 2018, as well as the weekly airplay charts from 2002 to 2018, Dr. Watson looked at how women, men and duos faired in terms of spins — and determined that not only is the playing field dreary for the women of country music, it’s actually getting worse by the year. In 2000, women held 33.3% of songs on the year-end country airplay reports, but by last year, they came in at 11.3% — a decline of 66% percent. The last time women were represented well? Taylor Swift was still making country music, not commissioning butterfly murals. Grammy Album of the year winner Kacey Musgraves, meanwhile, is only seeing her latest single “Rainbow” continue to drop (Number 34 to 36 this week) on the Mediabase country chart.
“The trend shows significant decline for women, strongly pointing to the self-fulfilling nature of gender-based programming,” the report says. Indeed, the less women are played at country radio, the less familiar they become, trapped in a cycle from which it is nearly impossible to escape. Look just this week to the current spin counts in Country Aircheck: zero women in the top five, and only one woman in the top point gainers (Tenille Townes’ “Somebody’s Daughter”)”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Maren Morris is one of Country finest artists/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images
It is hard to ignore a link between a lack of radio play and award snubs. There is no reason women are being marginalised on radio. If you listen to performers such as Carrie Underwood and Kacey Musgraves, they are producing music that can rival anything put out by the men. When we think of the next generation of Country artists, what impression does this send to girls who want to be heard? Are they more likely to produce Pop or other types of music if they feel Country music is exclusive and gender-biased? In order for progression to happen, those in charge of compiling playlists need to start asking why women are being overlooked. It does not bode well when you have this powerful scene where men are given so much airtime and exposure. Also, I feel the work of artists like Kacey Musgraves is so much more interesting and original than most male stars – maybe stations are sticklers for tradition and are jittery when someone comes along and adds something new to Country. As this article highlight, not only are women under-represented on radio; there is a lot of sexism still evident in Country music tracks:
“It’s just so tiring to hear the same sexist words over and over on the radio. These types of songs play on repeat day in and day out. It’s not okay for people to hear men repeatedly talking about the way women look in their jeans. Or, how they want to take those jeans off. Women are more than just their bodies.
PHOTO CREDIT: @katy_anne
The misogyny is not only in what is being said in the music, but in many other aspects. In the current Billboard Top 50 Country, 7 songs are sung by solo female artists with two songs by the same woman, Maren Morris. This means out of 50 songs, only 14% are sung by solo female artists. This isn’t a lot. This only highlights the current problem in country music. It’s completely dominated by men putting out a sexist image.
“Bro-country” is overtaking the country charts, and in my opinion, ruining country music.
Country artist, Carrie Underwood, told Elaina Smith on the Women Want to Hear Women podcast, "I think about all the little girls that are sitting at home saying, 'I want to be a country music singer.' What do you tell them, you know? What do you do? How do you look at them and say, 'Well, just work hard, sweetie, and you can do it' when that's probably not the case right now?”
Everyone knows how Pop music tends to place age limits on female artists. Popularity and attention are easier for men over forty to achieve compared to women. So many women are seen as past their prime when they hit their forties. This is definitely true of Country. Not only is there misogyny and sexism in terms of award recognition and radio playlists; there seems to be this age barrier applied to women that is not applied to men. Although mainstream artists like Miranda Lambert have helped bring Country music to a wider audience, it seems there is this prejudice when it comes to women. Look at a Country legend like Dolly Parton and I wonder what she thinks of the imbalance.
The assumption that, somehow, women are worth less than men and are only relevant to a certain age is appalling. Earlier this year, NPR ran an article that outlined the problems at hand:
“Women’s voices and perspectives — and particularly those of more mature female artists and songwriters — are not being heard out of Nashville. That’s the conclusion reached by researchers at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, who on Friday released a study on the gender gap in country music.
Despite the successes of musicians like Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, and Kacey Musgraves — who won the 2019 Grammy for album of the year for her project Golden Hour, as well as best country album and best country solo performance — the voices of women creators are severely underrepresented.
According to the Annenberg researchers, led by Stacy L. Smith, only 16 percent of country artists are female, and only 12 percent of country songwriters are women.
The team also notes that when female country artists do find mainstream success, they are young. “Not one of the top-performing women was over the age of 40,” they note, “while all but one of country’s top-performing men had reached or exceeded that age.” They found that the average age of top female artists is 29 years old — while for men, the average age is 42”.
I have only brought in a few articles; if you look online, you will see plenty of pages that explain how much sexism there is in Country music! I do feel like a lot of women in Country are moving to other genres because they cannot get their voices heard in Country. Sexism and misogyny is present in all genres, but it seems extreme and unflinching in Country.
With so few stations and important male figures vowing to make changes, it is left to women (and a few men) to speak out and call for action. There are some powerful and impressive female artists around but, largely, they have to struggle alone. A new group, The Highwomen, unites some of Country’s brightest and most powerful women:
“Everyone knows that country radio hasn't been making room for the voices of women. The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative did a study on the genre that showed that over the last decade, airplay for women on country radio has plummeted. It seems like everyone, from Carrie Underwood to Miranda Lambert to CMT are doing whatever they can to support women artists — everyone except country radio programmers, that is. And now there's a new voice in the fray, with their sites set directly on country radio: The Highwomen.
You could call them a supergroup, because all the members are superstars in their worlds. There's Maren Morris, one of the few women to break through in mainstream country music in the last decade; Brandi Carlile, who won three Grammys for 2018's By The Way, I Forgive You and has become a leading voice in Americana and roots music after a long career; Amanda Shires, who is the mastermind behind the group, a mean fiddle player, and a singer/songwriter; and Natalie Hemby, a songwriter who's penned hits for Kacey Musgraves and Miranda Lambert, along with many others”.
I do hope there is change and greater improvement very soon, as Country music now is culpable of sexism and exclusion. Not that Pop offers a lot of balance and gender awareness, but there is more of a chance to be heard. It is sad to see women moving away from Country as they are unable to sustain a career or find support. It is not like there are few women in Country music or a lack of desire; the problem is men are seen as the most commercial, necessary and important. These lazy attitudes need to subside because, if they continue, Country music will lose all of its female artists. We do not want to get a point where girls interested in Country music are planning their future and, seeing the sexism and misogyny in the scene, are told to dream and head…
IN THIS PHOTO: The Highwomen’s Natalie Hemby
IN another direction.