1. Representation of
Women in the Music
Industry
By Chloe Ward
Chloe Ward
Tuesday, November 19, 2013 1:37:54 PM United Kingdom Time

2. “Nothing is provocative anymore
Even for kids
No room for imagining
'Cause everyone's seen everything”
- ‘Sex Yeah’ – Marina and the Diamonds
It is a well known and commonly talked about fact that the way
women are represented across the music industry is not reflective of
women in real life, and the effects of this are commonly debated
about.
Although women are commonly sexualized and stereotyped across
the media, there seems to be a hyper-sexualisation that occurs in the
music industry as an accent to the music that many call ‘mediocre’ in
order to help sell it.
Sex has always been used to sell products, from fruit to IT services,
and music is no exception to this rule. It is important to remember
however, that with music playing such a prevalent part of our
everyday lives, that this is having a large impact on us.
• 31% of American girls admit to starving themselves or refusing
to eat as a strategy for weight loss
• 9 in 10 girls say the fashion and media industries place a lot of
pressure on them to be thin
• 80% of parents have seen their children sing or repeat sexual
lyrics without realising their meaning
• 1/3 of parents also said their child had copied the overtly
provocative dance moves they had seen pop stars perform.
Professor Sut Jhally points out that women often are seen to perform
provocatively through touching themselves, male artists and other
women. This behavior, if emulated by children, could obviously be
damaging. Interestingly this behavior is rarely seen in male artists. The
excuse for women doing this behavior is explained as them asserting
their femininity and expressing themselves sexually, beyond the
boundaries of what is usual for women. It would undoubtedly cause a
fierce and offensive row over sexuality if a male artist was to carry out
actions seen in videos such as Miley Cyrus’ We Can’t Stop.
Similarly, we wouldn’t see male artists kissing each other on stage as
a means of creating a flirty scandal, such as Britney Spears and
Madonna. This can be seen as suggesting that women’s sexualities
are taken far less seriously than men’s and this can be damaging to
women too.
Jhally suggests that this highly sexualised fantasy world in which
female artists are indulging lesbian fantasies and expressing
themselves through promiscuous dance routines has set the
standard for women in the music industry, forcing them to promote
their bodies and looks in order to become successful in an industry
dominated by powerful men.
Chloe Ward
Tuesday, November 19, 2013 1:37:54 PM United Kingdom Time

3. “American youth are being sold the concept
that women and girls’ value lies in their
youth, beauty and sexuality”
- The Representation Project
Miley Cyrus in an artist where this seems to have gone slightly too far,
especially in the eyes of social media. Rarely a week goes by without
Cyrus posting a photo of herself in revealing clothes (or seemingly
nude), releasing a scandalous new song with provocative lyrics and a
video that attracts outcry, or performing at an awards show in very
little.
Originally, Cyrus shot to fame as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana, a
Disney character who lived a double life, spending half her time as a
regular teen girl with Tennessee roots and the other half as a global
pop sensation. It is for this reason that her actions are so alarming to
so many members of the public – because they were used to seeing
her with such a safe and inoffensive image of a young woman, and
one that many young girls could look up to; the explosion of the ‘new’
Miley Cyrus generated a lot of outcry and it is hardly surprising.
Many people defended her, however, as reinventing herself and
showing people that she had grown up, and as trying to shrug off the
old Disney image she had had so carefully cultured for her over the
years.
The majority of concerns came from people who were
understandably shocked at the new look – branding her as
‘disgusting’ and her actions as ‘wrong’.
What is interesting though is that when the same people spoke of
Lana Del Rey (second picture down on the right), they talked about
her in a much fonder way. Cyrus’ songs are definitely risqué, but
none of them are quite as overtly sexual as Del Rey’s – lyrics such as
“my p***y tastes like Pepsi Cola” are probably more provocative than
those in some of the songs written by Cyrus.
However, it is often the presentation of these women that has an
impact on how they are perceived. Lana Del Rey’s entire celebrity
image is one of class and sophistication, with designer clothes, lavish
jewellery and beautifully styled hair. On the other hand, items of
clothing such as a nude PVC bikini and crudely styled pigtails are at
the opposite end of the spectrum. It seems therefore that the way
these female celebrities present themselves during their
performances and publicity defines them as artists, and especially so
when nudity is involved.
One journalist, writing for the Australian Daily Telegraph asked “How
have we allowed a small group of men in the music industry to
confuse pop music with stripping and portray women in such a
demeaning, one dimensional way? And how did it quietly become the
backdrop to our everyday lives?”
Chloe Ward
Tuesday, November 19, 2013 1:37:54 PM United Kingdom Time

4. “This is a fleshy, naked emergency – pop
stars are too sexy for our kids”
-­‐ Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, The Guardian
On the other end of the spectrum we have Adele, often sold as an
award winning vocalist, singer, songwriter and incredible stage
presence. She is rarely sexualised, although many put this down to
her being curvier than many of the other artists we see across front
pages and magazine advertisements.
She successfully subverts media and industry expectations of
female artists, giving them empowering lyrics, breathtaking
melodies and stunning vocals as opposed to breasts, bottoms and
baring all. This is a glimpse into how it is possible to be successful
without presenting a sexualised image – Adele has a net worth of
$45,000,000, whereas aforementioned Lana Del Rey has a net
worth of $12,000,000.
Taylor Swift is a more demure artist too, although her penchant for
releasing love songs regarding her break-ups has resulted in her
being portrayed as a ‘man-eater’ and a ‘slut’ in the eyes of some
social media users, as she has been known to date popular male
celebrities such as Joe Jonas and Harry Styles, which is interesting
considering Swift has not once posed for a partially clothed photo
shoot, unlike more promiscuous counterparts who, while not
praised for their sexual exploits, encounter very little backlash over
them.
Lorde, the woman in the third image down on the right, is an
example of a new artist to the music industry who has managed to
enter the industry with very little sexuality in her breakthrough track
and who has not portrayed herself in a way that is considered to
be overly sexualised or promiscuous.
However, some other young artists such as Gabriella Cilmi, whose
breakthrough track, ‘Sweet About Me’, became a global hit in
2008, admitted she felt ‘pressurised to present herself in a sexier
style’ following the success of ‘Sweet About Me’, despite only
being 16. She claims the management she had at the time forced
her into ‘dance routines, a sexy new image and topless photo
shoots for FHM’.
Welsh singer-songwriter Charlotte Church came out recently to
talk about the pressures she faced as a very young female artist,
who believes that young female artists are routinely ‘coerced into
sexually demonstrative behavior in order to hold onto their
careers’. She accused record labels of encouraging young singers
to ‘present themselves as hypersexualised, unrealistic, cartoonish,
as objects, reducing female sexuality to a prize you can win’.
Chloe Ward
Tuesday, November 19, 2013 1:37:54 PM United Kingdom Time

5. "The lines that I had spun at me again and
again - generally by middle-aged men were: 'You look great, you've got a great
body - why not show it off?'”
– Charlotte Church
Some female artists in the music industry have used their
femininity and sexuality to their advantage. Jessie J is a prime
example of an artist who did this; in January 2011, she released
the highly provocative ‘Do It Like A Dude’ – with lyrics such as “
rollin’ rollin’ rollin’ rollin’ money like a pimp/ my B-I-T-C-H’s on my
d**k like this” alongside repeated uses of an expletive, as well as
a highly promiscuous and startling music video. This successfully
managed to pull a lot of media attention towards her, and
following the spectacle that is Lady Gaga, the media expected her
to release songs that became increasingly more sexual, more
exciting and more provocative.
Jessie J more or less did the exact opposite. Her follow-up song
to this was Price Tag, featuring B.o.B, with lyrics such as “it’s not
about the money, money, money/ we don’t need your money,
money, money/ we just wanna make the world dance/forget about
the price tag”. The rest of her singles also contained meaningful
messages, about bullying and feeling comfortable in your own
skin. She shaved her hair off for Children In Need in 2013, and the
Guardian said of her decision to come out as openly bisexual as
“valuable to young teens, especially for young girls unsure of
themselves because of their sexuality and identity, to feel ‘that this
does happen and this is normal’”.
Another female artist seen as a good role model through her use
of sexuality is Pink. Particularly in recent years, she has provided
an image of healthy body and strength, especially with her aerial
silk performances on her most recent tours.
She became spokesmodel for CoverGirl in mid 2012, featuring in
a mid 2013 campaign themed ‘beauty with an edge’ – which is
something to bear in mind as they are indicating that she is not
conventionally beautiful despite having this achievement.
Lady Gaga is an artist that has suffered from a barrage of criticism
in regards to her body, image, sexuality and music. Breaking onto
the scene in 2009 with ‘Just Dance’ and ‘Pokerface’, she faced
accusation of being a hermaphrodite alongside constant ridicule
over her fashion choices and fierce anger aimed at her for
‘copying’ Madonna and David Bowie’s messages and clothing
choices – despite many artists, male or female having drawn
inspiration from fellow artists in decades before.
In conclusion, it seems that women are represented in the music
industry in a number of different ways. Some are portrayed as
hyper-sexualised female goddesses, others as tacky and selfdeprecating. What some consider to be empowering is deemed
embarrassing and tasteless for others; however, the real issue, it
seems, is why female artists feel the need to present themselves
in this way – and what we can do to change it.
Chloe Ward
Tuesday, November 19, 2013 1:37:54 PM United Kingdom Time