femme mag

Yet within all this, we face another issue. In tackling issues of being a woman in
music, it feels as though we’re feeding into the idea of women being an ‘other’, or
a novelty. This mentality is widely prevalent across the media, where Wikipedia has
a ‘Women in Music’ page, without a male counterpart. The suggestion that women
are somehow encroaching on, or ‘attempting’ to break into, an industry that is
naturally male is highly upsetting. Yet, until it becomes ‘normal’ to be a woman in
music, it seems we should highlight and celebrate while also normalise women in
the music industry. “We always get clichéd comparisons to female musicians due
to our female presence in the band, even if we sound nothing like the artist,” tell
The Orielles. “I think we can only combat this by getting people to normalise the
idea of being a woman in a band”. Though it seems the logical solution to this is to
not label women in music as just that, in doing so women seem to be ignored. Until
then, the only way is to stand up and shout that women and non-binary talent are
here, and they don’t expect to be treated any differently due to their gender.
However, throughout all of this, The Orielles seem hopeful, and the future definitely
looksbrighter for female musicians. “Girls just need to feel as encouraged as
possible to start playing music and not take shit from anyone in the industry, and
not give up when they experience sexism, but use it as a catalyst into making
something super special to say, ‘you know what, fuck you!’”. While gender
inequality in the music industry has been present for decades, projects like Girls
Against and FEMME are certainly doing all they can to break down barriers. While it
may take a little more effort, there’s no doubt that female dominant bands like The
Orielles are on their way up, despite their gender.