BRITs consider making awards gender neutral

[HighwayGuy 1,498]

Let me explain how it feels to be a genderqueer person again because some gays just don't get it

Basically yes, my sex is 'male' and i have a d***. But I constantly think about what it would be like to be a woman. i don't feel trapped in a mans body but i feel attracted to both sides. I guess i feel mid way in between masculine and feminine.

I don't think 'non-binary' is the best way to put it tbh, i don't identify with neither i identify with both.

To constantly be told 'but you're still a man' just completely disregards the other side of my feminine identity

[StrawberryBlond 13,289]

24 minutes ago, Bear said:

I disagree in acknowleding that sexism might exist but also saying they are on an equal footing by seperating them.

It almost makes the female category feel like a booby prize. "Congrats you did the best.. for a female but if you were against males we wouldn't have given it to you". It takes away from the point of the awards and that represents a real problem to me and something we should address, and in my opinion I think removing the boundaries is the first step to do that so we can see what we are dealing with (and makes it more inclusive to people who are non-binary at the same time).

I do agree we need to be pragmatic because we are not in an ideal world and challenging that innate sexism if it were to be exposed would not be easy. I do think it's worth trying and fighting for though, I really believe it makes the most sense for everyone

Separate categories allows both men and women to shine, it's not just about helping women. I've never seen the women's category as some sort of consolation prize, it's about dividing music where necessary so more people can go home with awards. Part of the reason why we have so many awards to begin with is to satisfy big egos. Dividing it by gender is another way to give you an extra chance of winning something, let's just be honest. Unfortunately, some awards ceremonies, like the BRITS, have barely any awards as it is so if they're neutralised, you'll only have one chance and then it's a lonely night for you. It's not fair on the attendees and it'll be very unsatisfying for the viewers, meaning they may well switch off, causing ratings to fall. It's a terrible system for all involved.

18 minutes ago, HighwayGuy said:

Let me explain how it feels to be a genderqueer person again because some gays just don't get it

Basically yes, my sex is 'male' and i have a d***. But I constantly think about what it would be like to be a woman. i don't feel trapped in a mans body but i feel attracted to both sides. I guess i feel mid way in between masculine and feminine.

I don't think 'non-binary' is the best way to put it tbh, i don't identify with neither i identify with both.

To constantly be told 'but you're still a man' just completely disregards the other side of my feminine identity

You're entitled to these feelings but gender categories are nothing to do with personal feelings. They're about biology and giving everyone a fair chance. There once was a time that all awards were just for men, then women were allowed in but they had to compete with men (consequently, very few won) and eventually, we reached a point where we realised that in order for women to get the fairest chance, the categories had to be gender segregated. It was to do with ending sexism, nothing to do with personal gender identification. That's a completely different thing that should have no bearing on awards ceremonies. Men will still have all the privileges of being male regardless of how they personally identify and it's not fair that women now have to fight for a place against men because we all have to be lumped in together now.

[crisTEAne 21,059]

about time

[Bear 7,515]

1 hour ago, StrawberryBlond said:

Separate categories allows both men and women to shine, it's not just about helping women. I've never seen the women's category as some sort of consolation prize, it's about dividing music where necessary so more people can go home with awards. Part of the reason why we have so many awards to begin with is to satisfy big egos. Dividing it by gender is another way to give you an extra chance of winning something, let's just be honest. Unfortunately, some awards ceremonies, like the BRITS, have barely any awards as it is so if they're neutralised, you'll only have one chance and then it's a lonely night for you. It's not fair on the attendees and it'll be very unsatisfying for the viewers, meaning they may well switch off, causing ratings to fall. It's a terrible system for all involved.

hmm then I'll have to politely agree to disagree.

To me "it's about dividing music where necessary so more people can go home with awards" when it comes to gender is no longer appropriate. We shouldn't have to have categories to give women a chance to win when there are sooo soooooo many talented female artists out there who's work more than stands up to what their male counterparts are making. A non-divisive category is more welcoming to all, inclunding people who are non-binary.

The BRITS dont even divide by genre anymore but they do divide buy gender. If we need more categories why not delve into things like "Best British Pop/Best British Rock/ Best British Rap etc" and even categories like "Most Impactful Song", "Best Soundtrack in British cinema"etc. There are so many things to explore that I don't think a lack of categories is enough of a reason to continue dividing by gender, something that has no impact on the music itself.

[malazam 15,710]

No. Men will win over women.

[LordEnigma 11,313]

8 hours ago, StrawberryBlond said:

nvm 

 

[SMILE2NE1 3,566]

This should set the precedent and they should merge Olympic sports too  See what happens then

[FunkYou 352]

Good. Couldn't care less about awards but this is what I call an interesting action on breaking the gender barrier people still seem to have. I'm here for it.

[Enzo 37,977]

WoMeN wOn'T WiN AwARdS aNyMorE

[Azor Ahai 18,861]

But women wont win awards anymore!!1!1

*Laughs in Grammys*

 

[StrawberryBlond 13,289]

19 hours ago, Bear said:

hmm then I'll have to politely agree to disagree.

To me "it's about dividing music where necessary so more people can go home with awards" when it comes to gender is no longer appropriate. We shouldn't have to have categories to give women a chance to win when there are sooo soooooo many talented female artists out there who's work more than stands up to what their male counterparts are making. A non-divisive category is more welcoming to all, inclunding people who are non-binary.

The BRITS dont even divide by genre anymore but they do divide buy gender. If we need more categories why not delve into things like "Best British Pop/Best British Rock/ Best British Rap etc" and even categories like "Most Impactful Song", "Best Soundtrack in British cinema"etc. There are so many things to explore that I don't think a lack of categories is enough of a reason to continue dividing by gender, something that has no impact on the music itself.

But if society is 50% men and 50% women, then shouldn't the nominees reflect that? A category composed of 4 men and 1 woman is not reflective of the male/female population. That would suggest just 1 in 5 people are female, when it's 1 in 2. Hence, segregated categories - 5 men and 5 women, both genders guaranteed to go home with awards. You can't get fairer than that. Categories being condensed down tends to be strictly for instances where there isn't enough competition or enough work being produced to pad out the category's 5 nominations (merging funk and RnB for example, or country and americana, gospel and soul) and to ensure that the lesser popular categories aren't getting filled with nominations that aren't even that good just to fill out the category's requirements. But there's more than enough men and women making music to give them their own individual categories. Condense it down and so many people that deserve nominations and would normally get them are going to be left on the sidelines. It was bad enough when the BRITS retired the Best International Album award which meant, now that Gaga was no longer a new artist, the only award she can be eligible for anymore is the Best International Female Artist. And seeing as they only seem to nominate the biggest names and seem to have a bias against her these days, she can't even get that. If it's merged into Best International Artist, she won't stand a chance of nomination against the likes of Drake, Justin, Shawn, Kendrick, Bruno, etc. I don't see how this is supposed to be welcoming to anyone who isn't male.

But I'd totally support the addition of extra categories, that's something that the ceremony's crying out for. I have no idea why they have so few awards. Why not best international single and video as well? I've heard some people call the BRITs the British equivalent of the Grammys and I guess it's the closest thing we've got but they're still very different. The main difference being that the Grammys give out loads of awards for all different categories and the BRITs barely give out anything and seem to focus almost entirely on British artists, hence the name.

18 hours ago, LordEnigma said:

 

I see you went back on what you wanted to say. You can say it if you want, I probably won't be offended. But if you feel it's going to stir up drama, then perhaps not.