Over the years, women have made great
strides in leadership. Although their numbers are still lower than men’s, more
and more women are obtaining leadership roles both inside and out of the
workplace. However, some industries are still being largely underutilized by
women; I believe that the music industry is one of them. More specifically, I
feel that there are not enough women involved in rock music. If women take
advantage of all of the different career opportunities available, it can only
help women as a whole advance.
Various
factors have contributed to women being held back in the rock industry. If you
do not have what others perceive as being ‘good looks’ you might not get a
serious chance. Hard rock magazine, Revolver, has an annual issued titled “The
Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock.” This issue is oftentimes the only chance a female
rock star has of even being featured in the magazine and the emphasis in on the
women’s looks, no her music.
Also,
unfortunately not all men take women rockers seriously and sometimes that is
directly tied to their looks. Looks are something that women have to battle and
most male rock stars do not have to deal with. If you type “top 10 female rock
stars” into Google’s search box, the second result is “My Personal Top 10
Sexiest Female Rock Stars.” That definitely says something about the reception
of women in the rock industry. However, like in sports, women hold themselves
back, too.
In
our own class discussions it was revealed that almost no one in our
female-dominated class actually follows women’s sports. You cannot really hope
that women’s sports can grow without supporting them. The same can be said for
music. Very few people could name more than one or two women in rock. About.com
compiled a list of the ten most influential women working in rock today and the
only one that I have heard of is Evanescence lead-singer, Amy Lee. Lee is known
in large part because of her looks and is on Revolver’s aforementioned “Hottest
Chicks in Hard Rock” list. I listen to hours of music every single day,
consider myself somewhat of a rock connoisseur, and I only know about a small
handful of women in the rock genre.
When
it comes to women in rock, there may be a difference between the perceived
glass ceiling and the actual one. Unlike boys, girls are not encouraged to pick
up a guitar or bang some drums around, lead singers of bands are referred to as
“frontmen,” and women are expected to be ‘groupies,’ following a band around instead
of actually being in it. There are built-in limiting factors that make it
difficult for women to breakout in the industry, but I believe that if women
are patient enough to alter their approach to the rock genre, they can overcome
these factors.
It
is true that oftentimes, lead singers get more attention than their fellow band
members. Amy Lee of Evanescence, Lzzy Hale of Halestorm, and Lacey Mosley of
Flyleaf are all lead singers. However, that does not mean that the rest of the
band gets ignored. Despite this, most women in rock sing lead vocals and very
few play guitar, bass, or drums. I think that if more women become drummers or
guitarists, they can raise and eventually break the glass ceiling.
Women
taking the role of the lead singer has its pros and cons. As previously
mentioned, being in front of the microphone does give you a greater share of
the spotlight, but it also provides more criticism and pressure. This can
provide women with a fast-track to leadership within their own band, their genre,
and the music industry as a whole. It also plays right into the hand of gender
stereotypes.
Appearance
is already something that women in music, like most other industries, have to
struggle with. If women are quite literally under a spotlight, sex appeal
becomes a difficult issue to avoid or overcome. It is a lot easier to not be
looked at as an object when you are hiding behind a set of drums. A very
general stereotype that some men hold is that women cannot do everything that
they can do. Women can prove this stereotype to be false if great female
guitarists, drummers, bassists, etc. arrive on the rock and roll scene.
The
amount of women in a given band can also play an important role in the success
of women. A band consisting of only women could be viewed as a gimmick and
people might not take it seriously. Should a band only have one woman, like
most bands with women in the group do, then that lone woman could be seen as
the ‘token female’ in the group. Both of these scenarios create significant barriers
for women that are already in a difficult career and face other gender-specific
obstacles.
Simple
biological differences mean that it does take a certain type of woman in
specific marital and financial situations to have a shot at making it in the rock
industry. If in the industry, a woman clearly is not a ‘housewife,’ but that
does not mean that they have a husband that is willing to stay home a raise
kids. Should a female rock star have kids, she will be forced to take the
off-ramp and might not be able to ever get back on again. A situation like this
would not only affect a given woman and her family, but her band as well. It is
not as simple as taking a few months off from an office jobs. Tours could be
cancelled, albums could be delayed, and the careers of a band of musicians
could even be over. If a band is not living through a full touring life cycle
and recording new music regularly, it is easy to get left behind and forgotten
since music is so competitive.
You
may be thinking, “music is great, but what does it have to do with woman and
leadership?” Music serves as a platform for all kinds of opportunities. It can
give you a voice and allow you to spread your opinions and ideas. It also
allows you to become an activist. For example, pop goddess Lady Gaga led a
campaign to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ Suzi Parker of Politics Daily
reported that after Gaga was escorted to the MTV Video Music Awards by four
members of the Service members Legal Defense Network, a group committed to
"ending discrimination and harassment of military personnel affected by
'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,'" more than 107,000 people visited their site
within three days.
Women
in other genres, such as pop, have been able to truly become leaders; Beyonce
is in the same vein. However, there are currently not any women in the rock
industry that have done the same. Technology and going digital has greatly
altered the music industry over the last decade which could lead to further
change. Having a female lead guitarist in a band that enters the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame may not be too far away. Although the toolbox is not full, women
do have some tools at their disposal and the potential to become leaders in
rock and beyond. Maybe there will be male groupies following women rockers across
the country and reverse gender roles.
