THE CHALLENGES

WOMEN FACE IN MUSIC

AND FILM INDUSTRY

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Music and film industry is all about art. There has been a presence of an idea since the
Ancient times that the artists working in this field need to only focus on their art and then they
will be discovered soon (Mc Carthy, 2006). At times, it is also said that art is basically a product
That needs to sustain itself simply because it is of high quality. However, these notions do not seem
to apply in the patriarchal music and film industry (Caldwell, 2012). Women have been struggling
since times immemorial to find a place in the male dominated music and film industry (Werkers and
Valcke, 2012). The present essay deals with the topic of the challenges women face in Music
and film industry. In this regard, the essay will focus on carrying out a comparative
addressing and critiquing issues of two different creative fields which happens to be music and acting
(Cleve, 2012). The essay has further tried to investigate creative processes and
their realization with respect to Music and film industry. The exact layout followed for the same
happens to be introducing the topic area followed by Summary, Critiquing as well as Reflection
of study area.
In this regard, it is quite clear that the field of Music and film industry is quite
challenging for women. The female genre has been involved in the film industry since many
decades but still the area is considered as a club of boys (Hudson, 2011). The women are given
roles in form of acting but are not given an opportunity to work as directors, writers and
cinematographers. It is basically on account of the fact that men have been traditionally found to
dominate the film industry due to presence of a stereotype that women are the weaker of the two
sexes. Hence, women directors constitute a tiny minority. However, it is not that women have
Not been under notice. But it took a long time for the industry to take note of directors like
Sofia Coppola, Grinder Chadha and many more (Stradling, 2010). Various reasons have been
given for the tough struggle faced by women in the film industry. The answer lies to patriarchal
nature of film business.
Some other reasons given by people are that women basically lack the stamina of
directing a film after she reaches the age of 40. Some authors have also been found to say that
the kinds of films that are required to be made in the present era are too big as well tough for a
female director. This concept also applies in the area of acting where majority of female
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Characters are still portrayed as weak and unintelligent (Caldwell, 2012). This is especially the
Case when it comes to action films. Here women are portrayed as irrational and irresponsible.
Similarly in the comedy films they are unintelligent, immature and domesticated with comedy as
well as drama. This situation has been found to be even worse in UK where high profile
Hollywood films still lack the presence of women directors (Werkers and Valcke, 2012). Some
women directors who have managed to take a show have to face lack of trust, hostility from the
fairer sex, a blunt disapproval from financers, and mockery from male counter parts. This
tendency has been all because women are trying to make their mark in an area that has been
exclusively reserved for men. The other reason happens to be that film making is an area which
involves for high financial risk and the very foundation of the entire film industry has been based
on demonstrable success.

People have a tendency to maintain faith in those things that have

worked in the past else they do not seem to bother (Mc Carthy, 2006). Same concept applies to
music industry as well. The business of music involves for activities related to production,
creation as well as purveying. A woman in this industry whether a business person or an artist is
a woman first and then is later counted for her talents (Space bomb: truth lies somewhere in
between, 2011). Even today, women in the world of music may have a token of place in the
industry or might have got a bigger opportunity specifically because a man helped her to get
there.

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Some of them especially Muslim directors have faced threats on internet. In this regard,
Kate Nash who is a renowned personality of music industry suggests that the females in music
and film industry should not be identified by the age and weight but the works they have
accomplished so far. Another troubling issue is that it is not that women do not want to take up
leadership roles in music as well as film industry but at times are subject to derogatory titles that
male musicians seem to evade. This further leading to gaining of far less attention than the male
counter parts especially in the music industry (Carson and et.al., 2004). As there is a very few
number of female producers, musicians, sound engineers, hence this very thing turns the position
of women to a very vulnerable one. Instead of helping the female counter parts to grow up and
make their mark, he females are usually abused by men. This may be in form of sexual,
emotional or even financial harassment. This tendency either leads to quitting of music business
by women or they end up marrying manager or producer solely on business reasons. Moreover, it
is also clear that this industry has changed on an exponential basis over the past twenty years.
There has been a presence of many more aspiring directors as well as artists that have entered in
the world of music and film industry and have also taken up bigger roles (Werkers and Valcke,
2012). In this regard, female artists in this field can also survive if they are able to observe their
immediate surroundings, find out which needs havent bee met and then create services so as to
meet the demand. As a female artist I this field I is also required to understand who her
immediate competition is (Space bomb: truth lies somewhere in between, 2011).
In this regard, it can be concluded that western world has a basic tendency of leaning
towards industries that are male-dominated. The same concept applies to music and film industry
as well. Hence, women will have to continuously face the challenge of the gender roles. At times
they may also have to use the femininity for gaining equitability (Nash, 2013). However, it is
clear that there has been a good change in the existing male female ratio but many women have
revealed tat male musicians and film directors still outnumber females. The females are also able
to compete in the non gender area by getting a mastery of the digital tools (Lieb, 2013). This has
somehow made their drive into the film and music industry a lot easier than the earlier times.

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REFERENCES
Caldwell, C. S. 2012. Jumpstart Your Awesome Film Production. Skyhorse Publishing
Company.
Carson, Mina et al. (2004). Girls Rock!: Fifty Years of Women Making Music, The University
Press of Kentucky
Cleve, B. 2012. Film Production Management. 3 rd ed. CRC Press.
Funkeson, K., 2013. The music industry from the perspective of women. [Online]. Available
through: <http://freemuse.org/archives/475>. [Accessed on 24 th November 2013].
Hudson, S. 2011. Working together to leverage film tourism: collaboration between the film and
tourism industries. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes. 3(2) pp.165-172.
LIeb, K., 2013. Gender, Branding, and the Modern Music Industry: The Social Construction of
Female Popular Music Stars. Routledge.
McCarthy, Kate (2006). "Not Pretty Girls? Sexuality, Spirituality, and Gender Construction in
Women's Rock Music". The Journal of Popular Culture 39.1: 6994.
Nash, K., 2013. The Music Industry Discriminates Against Women, Chapter 10 Million By
Kate Nash. [Online]. Available through: <http://news.radio.com/2013/04/24/kate-nashmusic-women-discrimination/>. [Accessed on 24 th November 2013].
Spacebomb: truth lies somewhere in between. 2011. [Online]. Available through:
<http://rvanews.com/features/spacebomb-truth-lies-somewhere-in-between/49992>.
[Accessed on 24th November 2013].
Stradling, L. 2010. Production Management for TV and Film: The Professional's Guide.
A&amp;C Black.
Werkers, E. and Valcke, P. 2012. The production and distribution of audiovisual works via new
media in the light of European media policy: constraints and opportunities. Info. 14(3).
pp.68-86.

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