The Mistreatment of Women in the Music Industry

To illustrate this, a  2019 study undertaken for the CLA journal, found that rap and pop music contained the highest frequencies of objectification (90%) and sexual slurs (93%).

The normalisation of this overt display of degradation works to reinstate an extremely damaging narrative surrounding the treatment of females in the industry and in society, disillusioning current and aspiring female artists and young women growing up in a media-saturated world. It is because of this, that female artists themselves continue to succumb to these pressures to advance their careers. 

Kristen Lieb, a professor at Emerson’s College in America, discusses this issue in her book ‘Gender, Branding, and the Modern Music Industry: The Social Construction of Female Popular Music Stars.'

She outlines the way in which female celebrities are plagued by the requirements of feeling like they are only able to achieve success in their careers by constructing themselves as sexy and desirable.

Lieb references pop star Lady Gaga to elucidate how she has transformed throughout her career in response to the expectations of her gender.

A notable shift in the subject of Gaga's music is evident when comparing the stars debut material with her most recent. It is clear that she is breaking away from supporting the commodified female image and straying from risqué performances and songs peppered with sexual innuendos such as Love Game and I Like It Rough.

Furthermore, 21st-Century music videos are particularly targeted towards young adults and teenagers.

These videos can influence the attitudes and opinions of the youth at a time when they are particularly developing their own sense of identity and belonging (Hovater & Farris, 2020: 75).

Consequently, as a young individual internalises the messages derived from the gendered representations of women and men on screen, music videos can influence their opinions towards gender, sexuality and gender roles (Hovater & Farris, 2020: 75).

Throughout her career, Lady Gaga has been critiqued for wearing minimal clothing and for dancing in a provocative manner in her music videos, including ‘The Edge of Glory’ and ‘Born This Way’.

Critics have argued that, through such costume and choreography, Gaga presents herself as a sexualised woman, thus perpetuating the gendered stereotype that women are hyper-sexualised objects who primarily exist for the pleasure of male viewers (Hovater & Farris, 2020: 76; Ey & McInnes, 2015: 62).

However, Gaga has stated that such music videos are deliberately explicit, with their provocativeness serving as an act of bodily autonomy and an assertion of women’s right to embrace their sexuality without shame (Hegarty, 2014: 84).

Here, Gaga instead demonstrates both an awareness that provocative music videos sell, and a consequent reclamation of women’s bodies as empowering rather than subordinating (Hawkins, 2014: 14).