"No-one should have to choose between a career and their personal safety."
In December of 2022, I received an email from my colleague at Women in Jazz Media encouraging me to be part of an inquiry into misogyny in music by the Women & Equalities Committee. The inquiry wishes to investigate the diverse accounts of misogyny from within the industry, live music, and educational sectors. The committee reached out to women across the music genre spectrum, of all ages, ethnicities, and professional rankings. Of course, as someone who has just graduated from university, I knew I hadn’t experienced half of what these other women have. However, from a young age, I have been subject to the misogyny that has been ever-present in music education, particularly within the jazz genre. When the opportunity arose, I wanted to help reveal how difficult this industry has become for women to break into, and how this misogynist culture has been imprinted on the way we teach our young musicians.
We were split into several groups of five or six women and set four questions to answer and interpret according to our musical specialities. The questions touched on how women experience live music events and whether there is still a prominent issue of sexual harassment in these settings. It was recently recorded in 2022 that one in three women face some form of sexual harassment or assault at musical festivals, a number that has drastically increased and continues to do so. The misogynist culture in music and in society more generally drives these figures, and they won’t slow until inquiries like this one are taken seriously. There were several participants who were also representing the discrimination faced by those from the transgender/non-binary communities at music events, which should be equally considered as the inquiry continues.
Furthermore, it was discussed how misogyny has crawled its way into the management structures of musical organisations and how a lack of female representation has become endemic in the industry. Many young women taking up intern positions, find themselves in vulnerable positions which they struggle to speak up about for fear of missing out on opportunities. But the point still stands: no one should have to choose between a career and their personal safety.
I believed it was important to also consider where these behaviours stem from, and how our education system is vital in re-structuring the gender disparities in music. Even simple fixes, like putting more female composers on the GCSE and A-Level curriculums, allow young women to see themselves in the successes of others. More complicated issues were also addressed; the way young women are socialised and pressured to be perfect in everything they do. There is less room for mistakes, which makes a creative subject like music even harder to navigate for our developing young women. In music genres like jazz and improvised styles, mistakes are inevitable and crucial to forming better musicians. This is something that is not encouraged in women, stunting their musical growth from the start.
It seemed like this was a moment of relief for many of the women taking part. This was a moment where their stories could be told and their discrimination could be heard, by those who had the power and resources to change it. The inquiry continues into 2023. January will see the written transcript taken to Parliament and raised further up the political rankings. It is a vital step forward in recognising the experiences of women, transgender and non-binary individuals in the music industry.
Granted, it may not make great change, but to recognise that there is a problem that needs to be dealt with is a step forward. A big step forward indeed.
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