By Laurianne Croteau and Diana Figueroa
The start of the new year is exciting for music festival goers. One by one, posters are released, with full lineups revealing who was lucky enough to earn a top spot as a headliner. And yet, the giddiness expected from fans, particularly female ones, falls flat when the list of acts is scrutinized.
When it comes to headliners, music festivals are still disproportionately male-dominated. Still? It’s 2018. Where are all the women then? It isn’t enough to continue reminding men what year it is and why this still has to be talked about.
In 2018, women within media, culture and the arts are still heavily disadvantaged when it comes to being justifiably represented. Only 16% of women can secure their presence at German music festivals, which is only 1% higher than the global average. Though that number has increased since 2012, this “improvement” is nothing short of embarrassing. When one considers how eclectic the music scene is today, more women should be sharing the stage and earning headliner spots on par with their male counterparts.
Unfortunately, that gap doesn’t start and stop at music festivals.
In Germany, the access and opportunities for women to hold the same jobs as men are close to parity (48% in 2015). But those positive figures mean little if it isn’t being reflected within culture. Only 33% of women are museum curators, though over 50% of women currently study the arts. This clearly affects what work is put on display or whose work makes it into a featured exhibition.
Only 22% of the country's theaters are directed by women. On average, women working in cultural fields earn 20% less than their male counterparts. There is a diversity of work in art, culture and media that is written, conceived, and performed especially by women, more so than ever before. There are more women on music boards and film juries then there were 10 years ago. Yet, if we look past the numbers, the reflection in real life remains glib.
There needs to be more opportunities, resources, and discussions that encourage women to take the lead.
Women in culture need to be recognized for their talents and capabilities, not for their looks alone. Send the work of a woman creative to an agency or promoter, not her photo. Encourage daughters to pick up guitars and start girl groups as early as they want because they can and they should. Tell them that music, photography, film and theatre aren’t men’s professions. Change the perception that men are the most or best fit to rule within the workforce. Educate men on their ignorance and make them aware of these disproportions. Stop preventing women from seeing the success they can achieve; how successful they can be if they believe it themselves and if the people around them do, too.
We need to admonish the ideology that women aren’t as creative, talented or motivated as men are. Or that they don’t make up as much of the art, music or film industry as men do. Because they are and they do. Rachel Morrison just became the first woman to be nominated for an Oscar in cinematography. Greta Gerwig, Best Director: the first woman nod in eight years, the fifth in history.
Though the numbers are rising, they aren’t rising quickly enough to showcase how successful women can be within cultural fields and how much women are actively trying to participate in the decision making processes.
The solution then shouldn’t solely come down to hoping that the jury awarding “Best Cinematography” will lead the drive for more diversity. Rather, it’s necessary to make sure that those behind the scenes include just as many women calling the shots as there are of men doing the same.
And as one of Spotify’s “Badass Women To Watch,” singer-songwriter Samia would say, someone tell the boys they’re not important anymore. Now someone go book her on a lineup, please.
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