Where the Women At?

F*EMS (Females* for Equality Making Stuff), 

as it appears in print

At first glance, it may not be that noticeable. When festival season comes around each summer, something is almost consistently missing from lineups across the globe: women. This is never clearer than when festival posters are displayed with only acts featuring at least one female member, and the results are dire. That’s where Lineups Without Males comes in.

The Australia and New Zealand-based Instagram account of the same handle (@lineupswithoutmales) highlights the gender disparity and male-dominated festival scene in Australasia, which is reflected across the world. The account posts edited versions of festival posters with the male acts removed, juxtaposed with the original to draw attention to the huge empty spaces in many lineups. The account creators crunch the numbers to caption each post with the percentage of artists which feature a non-male member on each bill. Some of the findings are especially dismal: this year’s Download fest in Sydney and Melbourne features a mere six bands with a non-male member, that’s a measly 26% of the whole lineup. Tasmania’s Party in the Paddock features 48% of artists with at least one non-male member - still less than half of the lineup - but a marked improvement from the likes of Sets on the Beach at 16% or the utterly abysmal Ice Cream Factory Summer Festival in Perth with a grand total of 0%. The comments range from criticism of promoters’ lack of effort to hope for the future of non-male bookings, especially in genres like metal and country: “Could always be better… but a strong lineup towards the bottom is promising for the scene moving forward,” commented one user. Sydney festival FBi Turns 15 boasts a whopping 88% of acts with non-male members, suggesting high hopes for the future of female bookings. As one follower aptly declared, “Fuck yeah fbi!!!”

Our antipodean cousins are not alone in their lack of non-male representation in music festivals. Whilst women are disadvantaged in almost every career path, the music industry is notoriously male-centric. Men made up 96% of festival lineups in the UK this year, with Wireless festival coming under fire for its mere three female performers across its weekend-long duration. Similarly, indie rock behemoths Reading & Leeds turned out a meagre nine acts with a non-male member. Coachella in the Californian desert, arguably the biggest festival in the world, only just broke its ten-year streak of male headliners with Beyoncé and Lady Gaga. So if it’s not due to a lack of female talent or festival budgets, then how exactly are promoters justifying their subliminally sexist approach to booking?

Despite the encouraging decrease in overwhelmingly male lineups, it’s no secret that the music industry is seriously lacking in the diversity department. Whilst more non-male acts are being booked, they often appear lower down the bill or as a sole female headliner. Some festival organisers cite the belief that female acts cannot pull a large enough crowd to sell tickets. Folk songstress Laura Marling debunks this myth: “It’s a vicious cycle of misrepresentation, confusing effect with cause by perpetuating the idea that talented female musicians do not exist because they are not nearly as visible as their male counterparts. If you prevent women from seeing any examples of them achieving, then it prevents them from believing they can achieve it.” Booking headliners to coincide with current album releases or touring cycles is often used as an excuse. In many cases, it seems this reluctance to seek out non-male artists is due to an unwillingness to take risks and be more daring with bookings, many of which pay off - Florence & the Machine replacing Foo Fighters as Glastonbury headliners in 2015, for instance.

It is the industry’s responsibility to ask more female artists to play festivals in order to effect change. Earlier this year, singer Halsey took to Twitter to express her disappointment in festival organisers for not reaching out to the many “dope women in music right now”. All-female agencies such as Sad Grrrls Club have tried to turn the situation on its head, but parity needs to be reached across the biggest names in festivals. It’s unclear who is behind the Lineups Without Males account, but they have helped to shed light on a rather grim state of affairs in terms of gender equality. As Halsey put it: “Where the women at? … It’s 2018, do better!”

Check out this piece in print in issue 12 of F*EMs here (now called Gems), based on the loose theme of 'Summertime'.