Shatter silence, raise hell, and run riot: music and gender in Spain, 2018–2021

Abstract

Gender issues in relation to contemporary music and within the artistic scene are a research topic of growing interest. This study focuses on the strategies adopted by women to resist gender inequalities in the music industry in the light of both cultural policies that continue to discriminate against them as well as the conditions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The data considered here were drawn from 40 radio interviews broadcast during the 2018–2019 season on the Radio Nacional de España, Radio 4; a second round of interviews was conducted in the spring of 2021 in the post-COVID-19 context, either by mail or phone. The interviews were organised into three analytical categories designed to provide details on subjects such as profession, prestige, and recognition of women’s musical creations or productions, and how their representation was portrayed by the media and/ or public. The results provided some findings relevant to the opportunities and careers women could access. Although the arts and culture are often viewed as ‘women’s worlds,’ many sectors are permeated by cumulative disadvantages including gender stereotypes, difficulties in reconciling work and family life, objectification, and sexual harassment. The findings obtained in this current work are in line with these women’s own responses, such as the following “The more I fight, the more I feel alive!”, “What if women had the power?”, and “No more twenty feet from stardom”.