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February 6, 2016

Warriors: Women in the Music Industry. {Plus Lyrics}

Flickr/Jason Persse

“The music industry is a vicious business. It chews women up and spits them out.” ~ Tori Amos, singer and songwriter

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Much like in the world of advertisements and fashion, female musicians and performers are often hyper-sexualized and objectified.

The music industry, being run by mostly men (producers, directors), makes it very difficult for a woman to succeed based on her talent, and puts more value on the way they express their sexuality and flaunt their looks.

The problem in the music industry is not that women aren’t successful—just look at the women who are topping charts right now, like Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift. The problem is the actual nature of the success—in other words, how many half-naked stunts they have to pull or how many songs about sex they have to sing, to get them the recognition they deserve for their talent.

From what I’ve read about women working in music industry, it seems as if the biggest problem they face is being seen as a sexual object—and it is no surprise, because of the simple fact that the media treats them like their appearance is the only thing that matters.

I speak about the music industry because it is the only one I know enough about to give an opinion on, but I’m sure it’s not the only industry that has issues with women being on top (no pun intended). What I find to be even more horrifying  is the fact that women in the same industry bash each other instead of sticking together. For example, the Nicki Minaj versus Taylor Swift Twitter feud this past summer.

When the 2015 Video Music Award (VMA) nominees were announced,  Nicki tweeted: “When the ‘other’ girls drop a video that breaks records and impacts culture they get that nomination.”

And followed up with: “If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year.”

This is when Swift replied with: “ I’ve done nothing but love & support you. It’s unlike you to put women against each other. Maybe one of the men took your slot.”

While I understand both sides of the argument made here, there’s definitely a better way to handle the situation, rather than calling each other out on social media in front of thousands of fans. Nicki and Taylor must have realized this, because they ended up doing a performance together at the VMAs to show that they’d patched things up.

My point is, in a world where sometimes we, as women, feel like we don’t get enough respect or credit—and feel like we have to live up to impossible standards—it’s refreshing to have the support from other women, because at the end of the day we are all warriors.

We’re collectively fighting for what we want and living our lives the way we should.

Writing music is the way I fight—the way I express myself—and I’m sharing my lyrics below, hoping that they will inspire you to fight for what you want too.

Achieve your goals, travel the world, find love—go out and a be a warrior.

~

Warrior ~ By: Ashley Xtina

I’ve been believing lies

and have been real blind

to what’s in front of me.

We’ve been deceived and

tried to redeem ourselves

and who we want to be.

But I feel like, everything’s coming together.

And I feel like, maybe it’s now or never—

‘Cause we’ve been stuck in a hole,

doing just what we’re told

and now I know we’re finally near

To doing just what we want,

not being someone we’re not,

Oh, it feels so good to be here!

We are the women,

who do what we want,

we have a vision

we’re independent.

We are the fighters,

we are the dreamers,

who choose to be heard.

We are warriors.

They’ve been telling us

how to live and why

we all have to be here.

Well we don’t care ’cause

we’re still loving our life

and don’t have any fears.

And I feel like, everything’s getting better.

And I feel like, we can conquer whatever—

‘Cause we’ve been stuck in a hole,

doing just what we’re told

and now I know we’re finally near.

To doing just what we want,

not being someone we’re not,

Oh, it feels so good to be here!

We are the women,

who do what we want,

we have a vision

we’re independent.

We are the fighters,

we are the dreamers,

who choose to be heard.

We are warriors.

We’ve had enough,

of biting our tongues,

we’re not gonna bow down or belong to anyone!

We’ve had enough

of being misjudged

we’re not gonna stop until it’s all said and done!

We are the women,

who do what we want,

we have a vision

we’re independent.

We are the fighters,

we are the dreamers,

who choose to be heard.

We are warriors!

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Author: Ashley Kervabon

Editor: Yoli Ramazzina

Photo: Flickr/Jason Persse

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Ashley Kervabon