Since the sort of recent Triple J’s Hottest 100 Of All Time, there has been much talk about the lack of female artists in the list. In fact out of 100 songs there were no all female bands, solo female artists or female fronted bands. Only a couple of female guest vocalists. Was gender politics at play or have people become unnecessarily melodramatic about the result? To check out the list click here – Triple J’s Hottest 100 Of All Time.
Hummingbird Blonde Lager are using this fact to push their ‘Hummingbird 100 Hottest Female Singers’. Looking at their web page it doesn’t really evoke any feminist fire in me. For example on their front page they feature Roxette & Vanessa Amorosi. Wow, there’s some horrible music. On the plus side it does feature a top 10 list by the amazing Yumi whose sometimes facetious opinion I’ve always enjoyed listening to.
Women have always been a staple in popular music and covering every genre from Folk to Punk. Although there are many female musicians, there is one way of measuring their popularity with listeners and that’s by taking a look at their numbers on the charts.Where a male has broken records for most number one hits etc… a female has equaled his record or even surpassed it. Although in saying that record sales don’t really speak to the quality of an artist, I mean how many hits has Mariah Carey had? Over 20? I suppose that’s pretty good for a blow up doll with the voice of a warbling parrot.
But in saying that the music industry is a male dominated one. Women may feel that they aren’t going to accepted in the industry if they don’t fit the pop ideal or maybe just less women have the desire to become an artist. Ah crap, I’m going to get berated for that last one.
Is there any sexual bias when it comes to the music we choose to listen to? In my opinion, I highly doubt that people make the decision based on gender. Music is supposed to evoke some sort of emotional reaction or connection with the listener. Many people who were surprised about the “exclusion” of female artist in the Triple J’s Hottest 100 Of All Time were then asked to look at their top 10 submissions and in many instances realized they themselves had a female barren list.
There was no need for an entire ‘Hack’ talk back show dedicated to the topic, or the feminist outcry about how our society is taking a step back into the dark ages. This is simply about what someone prefers to listen to…and overall, it happened to be men. Although in saying that, maybe I’m just adding to the hysteria but I am curious if anyone was actually outraged, or is it just the crazies that call up talk back radio?
Personally, I prefer the male voice and I think that’s all it comes down to, personal preferences.
