Allie Hinz ‘23
In prior years, a popular category at the BRIT awards was split into two groups, best female and best male artist. In an effort to be more inclusive, the award show eliminated the separation and created the category, Best Artist. Although the effort was positive, the outcome was negative.
Despite their attempt to be inclusive of all genders, only men were nominated for this award. People were outraged and felt the awards were unfair. Before the award show, news sources congratulated the BRITs for their inclusivity. After, they were not shy about showing their disapproval of the result of the show. I News, a popular source in England, wrote, “The exclusions are not only a reminder of the deeply engrained sexism in the industry but that far from looking ahead in UK music, the Brits seems to be constantly behind the curve.” proving their dissatisfaction with the awards in entirety.
Many artists, even those who won BRITs this year, spoke on the situation supporting the forgotten women. Sam Smith, an award-winning artist who shared the stage with Kim Petras to sing their hit song “Unholy,” agrees that there is "still a long way to go" in advocacy for gender-neutral categories at award ceremonies. While accepting one of his awards, Harry Styles stated: “I’m very aware of my privilege up here tonight,” he said. “So, this award is for Rina [Sawayama], Charli [XCX], Florence [Welch], Mabel and Becky [Hill]” — who are all influential female singers that did not receive a nomination.
Although there was originally a step made in the right direction by the BRIT awards towards gender inclusivity, this incident proves there is still a long way to go. This serves as a sobering, shocking reminder that, regardless of the type of music women produce, it needs to be played at double the volume of that of men in order to be heard.
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