Shatter silence, raise hell, and run riot: music and gender in Spain, 2018–20211

Autors/ores

Resum

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.

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Biografies de l'autor/a

Angels Bronsoms, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Angels Bronsoms has a doctorate in communications and a master’s degree in gender and communications (both from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) as well as a master’s in fashion and luxury (from the Global Business School in Barcelona). Angels is experienced in the music journalism circuit, is a frequent public speaker on issues related to women in music, and is currently researching the field of gender in the music industry. She is the author of the book Animals of Rock & Roll.

Paula Guerra, University of Porto

Paula Guerra is a professor of sociology at the University of Porto and a researcher at the Institute of Sociology at the same university as well as an adjunct associate professor at the Griffith Center for Social and Cultural Research in Australia. She is also part of other national and international research institutes and is the founder and coordinator of All Arts Network: Luso-Afro-Brazilian Network of the Sociology of Culture and the Arts, as well as being the founder and coordinator of the Keep it Simple – Make it Fun (KISMIF) project and co-coordinator of the KISMIF International Conference.

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doi.org/10.3917/soco.055.0005

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pelos impactos da pandemia na produção musical independente em Portugal [A requiem for the songs we

lost: Journeys with stops by the impacts of the pandemic on independent music production in Portugal].

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for-the-songs-we-lost-journeys-with-stops-by-the-impacts-of-the-pandemic-on-independent-musicproduction-

in-portugal

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Publicades

2022-12-31

Com citar

Bronsoms, A. and Guerra, P. (2022) “Shatter silence, raise hell, and run riot: music and gender in Spain, 2018–20211”, Debats. Revista de cultura, poder i societat, 7, pp. 139–154. Available at: https://revistadebats.net/article/view/5516 (Accessed: 28 March 2024).

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