The Gender Listening Gap

It was your typical college Friday night: the warm ambiance of soft chatter, the occasional laugh, and just the right music to match a clamoring group of new friends. That night I had been given the high task of curating the music of the evening, a job I took great pride and diligence in. So there I was, sitting in the middle of the couch, vibing out to one of my personal favorite artists —SZA— when I felt a brooding and ominous shadow approaching my eye line. 

“Nah turn that off, that’s some girl s***.” I slowly open my eyes and stare at the figure in front of me, appalled at his interjection to an artist I consider one of the greats of our modern generation.

 “What does that even mean?” I pause, “I guess you’re right, a girl is in fact singing, but you know this music is actually not exclusively for the ears of women, right?” Now it’s his turn to give me a look. 

“You know what I mean.” I answer in a somewhat sinister tone: “I am actually lost, please explain.” This was his cue to launch into a symphony on why fru-fru feminine-esque music was far too emotional for a “man” like him to listen to. 

It’s not that I don’t enjoy some intentionally provoked mansplaining and devil’s advocate role-playing, but it didn’t end there.  He then proceeded to change the song to some barely mumble rap song about bootylicious women at a high-end strip club. Don’t get me wrong, rap is arguably my favorite genre of music, and the song he queued had been on my last month’s playlist, but his reaction to me playing a female artist both intrigued and bothered me. 

I have plenty of male friends who will shamelessly headbang with me to Doja Cat, Queen Bey, or Taylor Swift, but the problem of masculine and heteronormativity listening culture is deeply ingrained within American culture, promoting the idea that there is “girl music” and “guy music.” This effectively wreaks havoc in the music industry and is a plague over our artistic culture. 

When it comes time to be put on aux, I have had interactions with a decent number of men who are afraid of being labeled as “feminine” for playing female artists or “feminine music,” as if the sounds they listened to somehow made them present more or less like a certain gender identity. While this thought process might seem a little ludicrous, the pressure society puts on men to be emotionless and not be seen as weak, is a value thoroughly ingrained in our society. Unfortunately, emotion is oftentimes observed and interpreted as a negative thing, instead of a part of being human. Admitting they listen to the music produced by women, can sometimes be looked down upon as if associating with something feminine makes you too sensitive or emotional. 

Female artists and women, in general, are automatically put in this box of “sensitivity” or being “too emotional” in presenting their feelings. It is as if merely expressing how they feel is some god-forsaken act and not a simple human tendency. The effects of this plague are not just surface level, but truly affect female artists’ livelihood. According to 2019 Spotify data, male-identifying users listened to 94.2 percent male artists, 3.3 percent female artists, and 2.5 percent mixed groups, while women listened to 55 percent male artists, 30.8 percent female artists, and 14.2 percent mixed groups (not quite equal, but still a much more diverse group of artists). 

Not only is there a gaping wage gap in the music industry —women being paid significantly less than men— but their music is not getting the attention that it should. There are so many fantastic female artists who venture into topics of love, loss, sex, social issues, and true raw emotions, and each and every one of them should have the recognition they deserve.

Article By Ava Aguiar 

Design By Elise Rodriquez