Men across the entertainment industry have been facing criticism and taking heat over the past few months after women began to come forward with allegations of sexual assault and harassment. The movement, dubbed “Time’s Up,” began in the acting community, but the discourse has spread to both the music industry and politics. The conversation began with sexual misconduct but has opened a wider dialogue about the power dynamics that exist between men and women in all situations.
Momentum from Time’s Up and these conversations carried from 2017 to 2018, and many have expected to see a change in recognition for women standing up both for themselves and each other. Between SZA’s five Grammy nominations, Kesha’s performance, and Lorde as the only woman nominated for Album of the Year, expectations were set moderately heading into the 2018 Grammy’s. While some of the audience members expected women to get their due recognition, others were not surprised by the fact that the women nominees ultimately ended up getting snubbed.
Viewers on social media were quick to criticize the lack of recognition for women, particularly that Lorde was the only female nominee for Album of the Year and was not asked to perform solo during the night. Kesha, an artist who faced a very visible legal battle against her alleged rapist and music producer, performed in a powerful and visible moment during the awards show. Kesha was nominated for “Song of the Year” for a ballad about her experience with sexual assault but lost out to a song in which Ed Sheeran, as many Grammy viewers aptly pointed out, sings about the shape and figure of a woman’s body. In fact, only one woman was presented with a solo award during the entire Grammy ceremony: Alessia Cara for Best New Artist.
The Recording Academy President, Ken Ehrlich, was quick to respond to the backlash in Variety, albeit with a response that refused to address the structural barriers that women in the music industry face:
“It has to begin with… women who have the creativity in their hearts and souls, who want to be musicians, who want to be engineers, producers, and want to be part of the industry on the executive level… [They need] to step up because I think they would be welcome. I don’t have personal experience of those kinds of brick walls that you face but I think it’s upon us—us as an industry—to make the welcome mat very obvious, breeding opportunities for all people who want to be creative and paying it forward and creating that next generation of artists.”
Ehrlich certainly has a point about industries needing to make themselves a welcoming place for women. But putting the burden of lack of critical acclaim for women on women is not stepping up. It is an obtuse understanding of the situation.
It’s certainly not the case that every female artist deserves every award, but given the Grammys as a whole, not noticing women en masse when nominated for and winning less than men, is disregarding the issue. There is no shortage of talented women in the music industry, yet they are continuously passed over when it comes to critical acclaim. At some point, one has to look at the issue as what it truly is: another instance in which women are systematically oppressed.
In a year when many female artists have released thought-provoking and soulful music, yet continue to be snubbed by the industry’s largest award show, audiences can’t help but wonder if it should perhaps be Ehrlich and those who work behind the scenes to be the ones to step up themselves and recognize female talent.