‘That is my voice and no one else can define it’: Meet this year's MusicMAKERS raising their voice for gender equality
When Danish artist MØ steps on a stage, she commands attention. Throwing her head back and forth and crooning to her infectious hits like “Final Song” or “Lean On,” the singer performs with charisma, enraptured by the melody of her songs blaring from the speakers and the cheers from her adoring fans. Emerging through smoke and a kaleidoscope of stage lights, she is unmistakably a bona fide pop star — and most days, she feels like one.
“I get very insecure about a lot of things,” MØ, whose real name is Karen Marie Ørsted, tells MAKERS. “But when I'm on stage and when I’m writing my music, I feel like that allows me to be completely free and be...the person that I f***ing feel like being.”
In the midst of a crowded chorus of male voices dominating the music industry is a diverse group of this year’s MusicMAKERS: nearly a dozen female musicians who are fighting for gender equality and demanding to be heard. In interviews with MAKERS, these bαdαss female musicians — including Cate Le Bon, Arthur Moon, Sunflower Bean, and more — talk about building each other up and challenging the status quo.
"I think that for every woman that makes music, they show other women and children of all genders that they can make music and [that] they don't have to fit inside of any kind of box" Julia Cumming of Sunflower Bean told MAKERS. “The more diverse we are, the more supportive of each other we are, the more beautiful and inclusive the world becomes."
Although the star power and talent of MØ and other countless female artists is undeniable, women are overwhelmingly underrepresented in all facets of the music industry. According to a study from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, women only make up 21.7 percent of all artists across 700 popular songs, while the ratio of male to female producers is 47 to 1. For women of color, these numbers are even lower.
“Being a black woman who likes rock and roll and playing guitar goes against what the cliche is to play rock,” musician Honeychild Coleman of The 1865 tells MAKERS. Coleman is one of the original founders of The Sistagrrl Riots, a showcase and movement for black women to play punk rock. “I don't get discouraged by other people's rules and boxes and neither should you,” she says.
Whether they’re rocking the stage before thousands of fans or laying down tracks that uncover their most vulnerable thoughts, these MusicMAKERS are fearlessly fighting for a seat at the table.
“All of us have a unique perspective. And that's what feminism is all about, everyone embrac[ing] diversity as a strength instead of a weakness,” says musician Daniela Serna. Serna plays for LADAMA, a LatinX alternative band including female musicians and activists including Lara Klaus, Mafer Bandola and Sara Lucas.
But don’t be mistaken — making a name in this male-dominated industry has been anything but easy. When Ellen Kempner started playing the guitar, she was often made fun of and deterred from playing simply because she was a girl.
“Once I got to middle school, I tried to be in the jazz band and was just made fun of. And kids would knock my guitar on the ground. It was pretty rough. I was always the only girl in any ensemble,” Kempner tells MAKERS. “So yeah, for a really long time I thought I sucked at guitar because of that.”
Dedicated to her craft, Kempner soldiered on despite her naysayers — and it paid off. Now the singer-songwriter fronts the indie rock back Palehound on vocals and guitar and uses her music to explore her sexuality, as well as challenge narrow beauty standards.
According to surveys taken by USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, women in music frequently have their skills discounted, are stereotyped and sexualized and struggle with financial stability. To put it simply, the odds are stacked against women in music. But, some artists, like Y La Bamba’s Luz Elena Mendoza, have found that the only way to cut through the noise is to simply be your most authentic self — and, sometimes, to do it yourself.
“I'm my own producer. I can write these songs. I can initiate that conversation. I can say no to that. And I can say yes to that,” says Mendoza. “That is my voice and no one else can define it.” Mendoza inspires upcoming LatinX artists by paying homage to her own Chicana heritage in her music, even producing a bilingual studio album called Ojos Del Sol.
“[I want to] be a representation of protecting my culture and protecting the people by what it is that I'm doing,” Mendoza says.
Bold and unapologetic, these female artists are taking center stage and empowering the next generation to do the same. “It's still not really normal for people to understand that women are creators and leaders. And to see a woman who is the composer, who is the songwriter, and the front person, and playing instruments — it's just really powerful,” says Coleman. “Young girls see that and they understand they can do it too.”
Read more from MAKERS:
• Fighter pilot Amy McGrath fought against Al-Qaeda. Her new mission is to unseat Sen. Mitch McConnell
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