Jessie Wagner is no stranger to the music industry. A background singer for Lenny Kravitz, Nile Rodgers, and Duran Duran, she released her debut solo album Shoes Droppin earlier this year and dropped the music video for her single Passin Me By in October. The music video portrays her as happy and carefree, dancing and singing among the flowers. However, it hasn’t always been this sunny.
“I do think it’s harder to break out of boxes that have been set up for us,” Wagner wrote to me. “You have to be the ingenue or the sex goddess. You have to peddle sex or you have to be asexual. There’s no middle ground. I’m not one or the other.”
Honoring Women in Music
When we look at the music industry as a whole, it seems to be inundated with powerful women serving as positive role models. From country queen Dolly Parton and Lizzo to rapper Awkwafina and St. Vincent, there is a multitude of women from all ages, backgrounds, styles, and ethnicities that are taking the stage and bringing in the crowds. And yet, there is still rampant sexism leading up to that stage.
In the wake of the frequent attacks on women’s rights and the #MeToo movement, superstars in the music industry have begun to give a voice to the sexism that lurks behind the curtain. There have been court battles, accusations of sexual assault, passive-aggressive comments, and over-sexualization. And this is just what has occurred in the past few years.
“You have to be careful to come across as sweet, but still be able to voice your opinions. It’s a fine line.”
Jessie Wagner
Jessie considers herself one of the fortunate ones. “I’ve worked with artists that respected me and wanted to help me succeed,” she said. On the flipside, she mentions that as a background singer, she doesn’t always like being referred to as “the girls.”
“The powers that be belittle you and treat you like a child. If you raise your voice, sometimes you can be seen as a troublemaker. You have to be careful to come across as sweet, but still be able to voice your opinions. It’s a fine line.”
Women of Color Breaking Rock Industry Barriers
Elise Okusami sings and plays bass, drums, piano, and guitar for Oceantor, an indie rock band from Brooklyn. Like Jessie, she has also been on the receiving end of negative responses by some in the industry to her being a woman of color trying to front a rock band: it won’t sell. In fact, Jessie and Elise gave me the exact same anecdote of their interactions with A&R representatives, word for word: Both women had been told to their faces that “‘Black women can’t do rock. It won’t sell.’ It’s the box all over again.” Talk about shutting the door after it’s been promised to be kept open.
Both women had been told to their faces that “Black women can’t do rock. It won’t sell.”
In an online interview with me, Elise elaborated that there are times during shows where she feels like it, “can be an uphill battle with sound people and venue staff depending on the venue,” but also acknowledges that she has, “worked with many wonderful people and have been fortunate that they’re the majority.”
Elise’s passion for performing started young: “When I was a kid, I would always get super stoked if I saw a woman on stage. I remember when I first heard about and then saw The Distillers, and was so stoked. So I hope any non-men out there who maybe have been discouraged or too anxious or whatever to start a band … see that and get inspired. And then listeners in general.”
Underrepresentation of Women in Music
Representation in media is crucial, and music is no exception. While male artists are primarily praised for their contributions to the music industry, women are largely excluded from these honors. If they are rightfully given the credit for jumpstarting a genre, they are still reduced to over-sexualized walking costumes, criticized for using their platform for advocacy alongside performance, and commodified.
I hope any non-men out there who maybe have been discouraged or too anxious or whatever to start a band.. see that and get inspired
Elise Okusami
Fortunately, there has been a large shift in focusing on underrepresented women in music: In 2017, NPR’s music critic Ann Powers developed Turning the Tables, a female-focused music project to “Rewind. Remix. Represent” the singers, songwriters, and producers from history. In the introduction of the project, Powers wrote that “the concept of “women in music” operates in the mainstream as a celebration of the ineffable feminine, endlessly redefined yet somehow still clichéd.” The hope is to highlight the history of women rockers across all genres and bring forth the challenges they faced, both now and then.
Expectations Changing
Chelsea Delle Palme is a singer and guitarist for GASHRAT, an all-female punk quartet from Canada. In her eyes, the expectations for women in music are changing, but the sexism is still there: “It is usually more layered or subtle, wherein you have to question whether even something like positive feedback or opportunities are being given if only to incorporate an all-female band into a show or to bolster the reputation of a booker or festival. All in all, not a terrible position to be in and an interesting evolution of more typical sexist expressions of dominance or aggression.”
GASHRAT has been together for 10 years, to the point where Chelsea describes long-term friends as a “family band”. They have crowdfunded and even opened for Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon in her break-off band, Body/Head. “For me, it’s never about perfectly orchestrating concrete ideas, it’s about creating a sonic universe. The world lacks perspective on the female sonic universe and I think that’s why GASHRAT tends to confuse and/or exhilarate people – the way that confident women or women expressing themselves openly sometimes can.”
Ultimately, I hope to instill confidence in everyone that they can explore, have foibles, make mistakes, and gain insights, experiment, and bask in that experience.
Chelsea Delle Palme
Sexism Alive and Well
Drea Doll is a guitarist and one-third of the Arizona punk trio The Venomous Pinks, alongside Gaby Kaos and Cassie Jalilie. She recounted to me a story of loading her gear up to play a show and a man mentioned that it was nice of Drea to load in her boyfriend’s gear: “So yeah, sexism is still alive and well in the music scene.”
The Venomous Pinks are about to release a vinyl of their EP I Want You and have crowdfunded a music video with perks. Drea acknowledges that the band has worked tirelessly to get to where they are, and refers to them as a ‘DIY ethic band’: “We have always worked hard and played harder. Nothing is going to be handed to you. You have to hustle and network and push yourself. Make yourself known.”
The Venomous Pink’s powerhouse performances have amplified Drea’s love for performing and she credits having a strong support group surrounding her. Her advice to women watching them perform is simple:
“Don’t ever let someone dictate what you can and can’t do.”
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GASHRAT
