Voicing experience : female indie musicians “calling out” sexism

In the last three years, a number of prominent female performers from the indie rock genre have made compelling public statements exposing and criticizing misogynistic behavior among music fans and members of the music industry. These statements have “called out” the sexism female musicians contend with in their professional lives, by publicly describing and condemning specific examples of sexist attitudes and behaviors. Furthermore, the statements have drawn public attention to the ways that sexism can be implicitly condoned when the music industry overlooks, ignores, or normalizes sexual harassment in the workplace. These statements have resounded strongly with the general public as well as with other women involved in the music industry, and they have had ramifications for music audiences and the industry itself. In this article I will briefly discuss three instances in which female indie musicians called out gender-based attacks, and the significance of their statements in describing the reality of sexism in popular music culture. I will propose that the indie music subculture is an invisible protagonist in these statements, providing a framework in which these musicians were able to articulate their experiences with authority and the expectation of a positive reception from, at least, their own fan base and, potentially, a wider audience. Similarly crucial is the digital culture that enabled the distribution of these women’s powerful messages, in their own words and at times of their choosing. By voicing their experiences, the musicians discussed in this article publicly placed boundaries around acceptable and unacceptable conduct for professionals and audiences in indie music.