Misogyny in Music Inquiry, reflecting..

Just thinking…

⚠️TRIGGER WARNING⚠️

It’s taken a while to process what this landmark Misogyny in Music Inquiry means to me and my freedom of movement in the music industry. While I was invited to the Women and Equalities Committee, unfortunately, my anxiety about reliving (or even hearing) some of those experiences got the better of me. 

I wondered, ‘how many other women's testimonies go ‘unspoken’ as a direct result of their interaction with industry bullies, high-level gatekeepers, ‘professional’ immaturity, and coercion specialists’. I have spoken to women who have needed to consider their mental health in preparation for reading the findings. 

This inquiry is paramount to women's activating their skills, contributing to the creative sector, and developing their careers. It would be great to get to a place where there is no need to constantly confirm an expectation of safety, where there is diminished to zero need to analyse and live-monitor one's mental health to appear unphased by activities around one. It’s exhausting!!

THE NUANCE OF MISOGYNY?

I have freelanced for over 15 years across the arts, music, and entertainment sectors. Although I could cite incidents scanning the protective characteristics of the Equalities Act, and maybe some that aren’t listed, my focus is on the nuances that chip away at who I am as a woman in male-dominated environments.

These devastating behavioral patterns have no cap; although a direct skill attack may be the initial target, other low digs get thrown into the mix to ensure their outcome lands! This means… as well as core tactics like attacking your personhood and matriarchal flexing, doses of ageism, body shaming, sexuality, marital and parental status, disability, and race all become critical ingredients to maximising effect.

IS IT JUST ME? 

For me, the coping mechanism for deeper traumas was to launch into survival mode, while the slow integrity jabs that threatened my viability became more of a central target. 

While I could speak about the demeaning coaching around ‘what I could do to win a deal’ or ‘progress my career in the industry,’ I’ve been examining the stress points and mental health conflicts that almost always led me to therapy.

Don’t get me wrong. The big things matter and must be dealt with alongside the continued smaller things that ultimately lead to pushing the, ‘ENOUGH IS ‘ENOUGH’’ button.  Here are some short scenarios as examples of those cause-and-effect moments.

Projected ‘Professional’ immaturity

Often referred to by some as plain ‘ole jealousy, I remember being persecuted for not delivering the same success markers for one artist as I did for another. Anyone who knows the industry, audience marketing, and music trends would have grasped that no cut-and-paste method for artists will yield the same results. 

The campaign against me showed up with the classic attempt to discredit and blacklist me among my fellow peers and existing clientele while questioning my overall integrity and zooming in on my marital status.

Skills Attack

I learnt that attacking my skills is almost always a direct result of being a woman. It reminds me of a conversation with a Promoter in which he openly discredited my ability to close a deal.

It centred on an Executive Producer client I worked with for over five years, who trusted me to represent and negotiate on his behalf, and the Promoter knew this.

However, I was told that maybe I should directly connect him (the Promoter) with my client because a man-to-man negotiation could get ‘us’ a better deal and further tips on how he could achieve more than my, five years of trust and proven track record could.

Submitting to Misogyny

While there are many straightforward and nuanced flags in what is being said here, the irony of this conversation is that I recognised this strategy years before. In fact, I had previously submitted to the ‘putting a man in front’ tactic and actually don’t think it is uncommon for women wanting to meet a goal. The fear of being branded ‘difficult to work with’ or completely sidestepped, is a real.

Ultimately, this misguided ‘coping mechanism’ ends with women operating from a fight-or-flight mode and being surrounded by people who think it’s okay to sacrifice you to get the outcome they want.  It can be devastating and who knows what the long-term health outcomes are!?

Consultancy & Action

Although I have achieved much, I never feel accomplished because of the false narrative that minimises women’s work in the industry by those who claim top placements by any means necessary. 

More consultation and varied methods of collecting lived experiences and studies are needed to understand the long-term effects of Misogyny and the best means of administrating corrective outcomes. This further highlights the importance of having a regulatory monitoring organisation, Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA), as a pivotal representative of accountability and implementation of the necessary steps toward safety and equality. 

In addition to these markers, I hope that the music and other creative industries can reach a point where they genuinely acknowledge that no one effort contributes to success and that this doesn’t take away from but adds to innovative outcomes.