Discussion: Sexism in music - Producers

alex_katycat

I have noticed that the 95% of the most famous and successful producers are men. Do you think that there's a kind of sexism in that part of music?

INGLSH

BlueTimberwolf

Maybe a lot of girls just aren't into engineering?

Homogenic

Yep, but not because there are few of female producers, but because women are never appreciated for their producer's work and all the credit is given to men. See: Björk, M.I.A.

By the way, recently I found out that Gaga co-produced every track on Born This Way, and moreover, her name was always the first one in the producers' credits, according to Wikipedia. However, all songs on that album are always referenced as DJWS track or Garibay track etc. as if she had no word in how would these sound. Same could be applied to other female pop-stars, although I follow none of them and can't tell for sure.

Giliap

It's because from a young age most girls are discouraged by family and friends to pursue science, math, technology etc. There are so many young girls who love science, web stuff and the like but once they reach high school their self-esteem is shattered and they're already a part of society's cycle of nonsensical social constructs (marriage as a goal for example)

And it seems like 99% of the girls who do pursue a career or even just a hobby in these fields aren't taken seriously. They're asked who does the work for them, how much of it do they really contribute, so on and so forth.

Björk is a prime example. They will interview male producers she works with and speak to them as if they're the ones solely responsible for her music and in her interviews, they'll low key patronize her and ask questions about her collaborations in a tone that implies their contribution is more important to talk about than what she contributed herself. She addressed this very recently I believe.

Bang Up

Yeah, sexism and gender roles play a part in why it's mainly men. Producing and music making itself is simply not seen as a "girl" thing for whatever reason. It's the whole "popstar" aspect that is viewed as the girly aspect of the industry.