International Women’s Day: An Open Letter About Misogyny

International Women’s Day is known as a global day that celebrates the achievements of women. From the social constructs to political achievements to the cultural changes that offer women safety they never thought they would have. It is true in saying that women have made life-changing progress, but there’s still a million miles to go before we achieve what might be a level of being treated with a true sense of equality.

Women still get told what they can and can’t do with their own bodies, “She shouldn’t have sex if she didn’t want to get pregnant.” Dismissed unfairly from our jobs for speaking against harassment in the workplace, “It’s just banter, she needs to learn to take a joke.” Sex crime court cases are thrown out because of what we were wearing, “She was wearing a short dress that exposed her chest and she had a drink.” Catcalled. Paid Less. Victim-blamed. The list is endless.

Within the music industry itself, there’s a level of misogyny that goes unspoken. Women often walk around with tight-lips and keep their experiences quiet in fear of being attacked and blamed for speaking up. It needs to stop. Over the past couple of years, a surge of women who have suffered misogynistic and abusive behaviour in the industry are now bravely speaking out in order to change the pattern of what’s going on within our industry. It happens more than you think.

Distorted Sound has always honoured women on IWD, but like many others, most of us on the team have been afraid of using our voices on this platform to make a change. Today that changes, and we use IWD to stand with all of those women coming forward and making our industry, and world a safer place to be.

“There’s no misogyny in music,” claimed a middle-aged male in the comment section of an article on Facebook. Okay, let’s explain that to the band made up entirely of women who had a movement made against them simply because of their gender. 

Just like any industry, women in music have had to work harder than the average male to achieve a level of success. The percentage of women achieving a higher status in music than a male is dropped even further. In a recent talk with a fellow-female editor, we spoke about why this could be and why women stop coming forward with their work, and it’s because they’ve grown tired of always seeing a male chosen before them, or because they’ve had so many poor experiences of being a woman in the industry that they’ve just given up.

It’s understandable, it’s disheartening at the best of times, but at its worst it is gruelling and mentally damaging. This goes for any role in the music industry. Could you blame a journalist for throwing in the towel when nobody will listen to their ideas, but praise the same ones that come from a male’s mouth? Or a musician who stops playing live because she is tired of being catcalled or upskirted on stage? What about a woman who is given unwanted attention in an interview room, offered beer and told ‘If I was twenty years younger I’d be all over you cause you know your stuff’ when they’re just trying to do their job?

Winks in emails from males in the industry wanting their work pushed through the net quicker. The positive attitude changes when you start signing emails with initials and not a name. Overlooking your responses and going to your male co-editor for the exact same answer and listening to them. 

Being called a whore for wearing a short skirt on stage. Being told you’re only in it for the men. Being sexually harassed. Being kicked off a bill as a performer for calling out the harasser. Being victim-blamed for being in the ‘boys club’. Being made to feel like you can’t open your mouth because you will be the one who loses out instead. 

It always starts with things you probably would bat an eyelid with at first, but it quickly becomes something you cannot ignore. We do not deserve to feel unsafe doing our job, and we certainly shouldn’t be silenced if we ever are. 

All of the above are just a handful of experiences that brave women have come forward about during their time working in the music industry. This does not even touch the surface of what most of us face on a daily basis just doing our job. 

It isn’t to say that we haven’t had positive experiences. We aren’t dismissing that. In fact, the community of people who stand behind us when trying to stamp out this behaviour is becoming larger every day. We are being heard, but we need to be louder.

This isn’t about being angry at men either. We are thankful to those who are open to talking and learning and making this a safer space for all.

This is about creating a conversation. Creating a safe place where someone can speak out about a certain behaviour they have experienced and have someone listen. The more people that speak about things, the likelihood of someone sitting up and listening becomes greater, that goes with anything.  

If you aren’t sure what to do, ask the person who is talking what you would like from them. It’s all well and good getting angry on their behalf, but ask them how you could help them and change any future experiences that might come up within these issues. It is important to talk. 

What you’ve read is simply just an open letter about the frustrations we as women are facing. We are tired and we are done with this. We need to talk. Education is the key to the progression of stamping out misogyny, and helps us put another foot forward in the right direction for women all over the world.

To all the women who have come forward about their experiences, you are strong, fierce and above all, loved.