“In general … women aren’t allowed to be kick-ass … At the end of the day, women are expected to hold up the world, not annihilate it,” Kim Gordon, bassist of Sonic Youth.
From jazz singer, Billie Holiday, to grunge punk band bassist, Kim Gordon, women have made a name for themselves in almost every music genre.
Other names such as Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez and Halsey have been big female names in the pop community as well.
Although the music isn’t the same they all have one thing in common: they’re at a complete disadvantage when it comes to being a woman in music.
Nandi Rose Plunkett, vocalist and keyboardist of the Indie band Pinegrove, comments on the issue with an interview for Esquire earlier this year and manages to sum up what it’s like to be a woman in music:
“No, I am not someone's girlfriend trying to sneak back into the green room before a show. Yes, I understand how my own gear works and have, in fact, built up the muscles to carry it.”
Why is it so difficult to be a respectable female musician in the year 2017? The answer is simple: we are not viewed as being capable of being successful without our looks and attitudes being a part of it.
Plunkett goes on to comment that with the attention she receives by being “the girl” in the band, she fears she is "not enough."
“That no matter how many instruments I play—and how well I play them—I will never be seen as anything other than a silly girl: so cute for trying, but ultimately a useless prop beside the real musicians," said Plunkett.
Being a girl in the music industry, especially a niche genre such as Indie, punk, hardcore and metal is essentially trying to fit in with a boys club. As a female, you stick out more than you would like to and are always trying to prove yourself.
“I noticed that at most punk shows we (females) try to fit in with our male counterparts. We wear the doc martens, the ripped jeans and flannels, the obscure band merch that makes you look cool. Why is it so bad to just look feminine,” said Cora Taylor, a local musician who once played in a Richmond-based band in Richmond.
Women also have a tough time in the music scene when it comes down to overall male and female acceptance.
While in a local punk/alternative band back in Virginia Beach, it was easy to get lost in the male gaze and discrimination.
While trying to bring my bass guitar into a local venue, a male security guard stopped me in my tracks and told me that tickets costed ten dollars.
After explaining to him that I was in the headlining band, he only let me in after my two male bandmates came to tell me to hurry up.
In the venue, one could instantly feel almost a sense of male entitlement. As if they were on the top and I was there only to prove myself as a musician to them.
With having to show the people around that you know how your instrument and equipment works, to simply carrying yourself more confidently in a way to show that you're there for a reason.
People would approach me at multiple shows attempting to be kind by saying, “Dude it is so cool, you’re a girl bassist in a band!”
Although it was nice to be some form of inspiration to others, why was I the “girl bassist?” Why was it not acceptable to just tell me it’s cool that I'm a bassist, the girl part is not necessary.
Even within my own band of two guys, it was easy for them to subconsciously treat me differently for being the only female in the band.
It was easy to tell they felt the need to protect me and help me as if I couldn't do those things myself, whether it was consciously or not is still up for debate.
Even outside of that, my credibility as a female in the band was almost diminished by being told I was so easy to be around and joke with because I was “like one of the guys.”
Except, I am a girl and that is valid. A girl who does not and will not ever make herself less femme in order to fit in to a male-dominated scene.
Though there are disadvantages to being a woman in music, change is happening.
With more women-fronted bands such as Plunkett in Pinegrove, Australian singer songwriter Courtney Barnett and even big pop artists mentioned before who advocate for women in music and pave a road for more to come.
Women are more free to dance, enjoy themselves and simply have fun being in a band and being a woman in music.
With a shift in how women are portrayed in music, how women carry themselves and use their platform in order to speak out against the discrimination and misogyny in music, we are slowly making a change for the better.
Ella Vader, a punk/alternative band from Virginia Beach playing in Norfolk, VA.
Pinegrove, an indie/alternative band featuring vocalist and keyboardist, Nandi Rose Plunkett
