Zara Larsson: "People are really quick to diminish the success of a pop artist"

[Teletubby 142,487]

“People look down on pop because it’s very female dominated. Everything that is female coded, it automatically becomes not a cool thing to enjoy, or to listen to, or be a part of. And I think that is definitely rooted in good ol’ misogyny.” You don’t have to be a superfan to respect those artists’ wins: “I don’t love every genre, every singer, but if f*cking Phish did pop, I would defend that.”

“People are really quick to diminish the success of a pop artist because of the genre when they are really putting in just as much work, if not more, to reach success [compared with] any other field or if a man would do it in another genre.”

She’s getting fired up. “I love Ed Sheeran to death. I went on tour with him. I think he’s one of the most talented writers. But he walks up in a T-shirt and is like, ‘What’s up?’ And it’s just him and a guitar, which is great. But I don’t think people would accept that if a woman did that. You would need the dancers; you would need the fan in the hair; you would need the sparkles.” You would need, she says, “a f*cking glittery catsuit.”

https://www.elitedaily.com/entertainment/zara-larsson-cant-tame-her-tiktok-dating-new-album

[Brizel 593]

☕️ 

[guccic0och 1,454]

She hit the nail right on the head here

[Anderson123 37,189]

14 minutes ago, Teletubby said:

“I love Ed Sheeran to death. I went on tour with him. I think he’s one of the most talented writers. But he walks up in a T-shirt and is like, ‘What’s up?’ And it’s just him and a guitar, which is great. But I don’t think people would accept that if a woman did that. You would need the dancers; you would need the fan in the hair; you would need the sparkles.” You would need, she says, “a f*cking glittery catsuit.”

[Dr Fudge 8,625]

I misread the title and read the entire excerpt in Zendaya’s voice thinking she said it 

[PeachJug 3,065]

billie is kinda a counter example

 

(though I agree with Zara in general)

[The Wolf 3,987]

And pop music created by male artists is not considered cool in elitist music circles either, it never was and was that way long before women started really taking off in the genre. She claims that a woman going out in simple cloths and just performing the songs would not be accepted in the music industry, hmmm very interesting that Norah Jones had one of the biggest debut albums of all time, interesting that Billie Eilish is one of the most popular artists today, interesting that Joni Mitchell can go out with just her guitar and yet she is recognized as an amazing songwriter.

[nATAH 45,835]

1 hour ago, 4th Street said:

And pop music created by male artists is not considered cool in elitist music circles either, it never was and was that way long before women started really taking off in the genre. She claims that a woman going out in simple cloths and just performing the songs would not be accepted in the music industry, hmmm very interesting that Norah Jones had one of the biggest debut albums of all time, interesting that Billie Eilish is one of the most popular artists today, interesting that Joni Mitchell can go out with just her guitar and yet she is recognized as an amazing songwriter.

i've literally seen people on this website complain that gaga, a woman with a disability, doesn't perform in heels like she used to

your 3 examples are nothing compared to the waves of pop women who have done the absolute most to entertain people

[thisguyN 616]

1 hour ago, 4th Street said:

And pop music created by male artists is not considered cool in elitist music circles either, it never was and was that way long before women started really taking off in the genre. She claims that a woman going out in simple cloths and just performing the songs would not be accepted in the music industry, hmmm very interesting that Norah Jones had one of the biggest debut albums of all time, interesting that Billie Eilish is one of the most popular artists today, interesting that Joni Mitchell can go out with just her guitar and yet she is recognized as an amazing songwriter.

Male pop artists may not be considered cool in elitist circles, but their audience for sure takes them as they are, and they are not under the same scrutiny.

as for the female artists mentioned, having certain examples as counter-argument doesn’t really change the big picture Zara is talking about.

[StrawberryBlond 14,525]

Some of her views on feminism have been extremist before but when she gets it right, she gets it right. It's great to see people being unafraid to call out this double standard.  

55 minutes ago, 4th Street said:

And pop music created by male artists is not considered cool in elitist music circles either, it never was and was that way long before women started really taking off in the genre. She claims that a woman going out in simple cloths and just performing the songs would not be accepted in the music industry, hmmm very interesting that Norah Jones had one of the biggest debut albums of all time, interesting that Billie Eilish is one of the most popular artists today, interesting that Joni Mitchell can go out with just her guitar and yet she is recognized as an amazing songwriter.

Male pop artists tend to get better reviews from critics, though. And even when female artists have a stripped-back image, they're always under pressure to be look "presentable." Unlike Ed, they can't just show up with un-brushed hair, no make up and wearing yesterday's crumpled clothes. Adele just stands and sings but she's always dressed formally with perfect hair and make-up. I wouldn't consider Norah Jones or Joni Mitchell to be pop, that's where the difference lies. Clearly, the type of pop Zara's referring to is the bubbly, happy style that she makes, the traditional idea of what pop has been since the 80's. Billie probably is the one outlier but even if she isn't pressured to change her image (the opposite is true if anything, like when she got backlash for being too sexual, which is a problem all of its own), she's notably been under pressure from the beginning to push her vocal abilities and stop whispering instead of just accepting that this is her singing style. I notice that male artists are generally allowed to put out the same music of the same style over and over with absolutely no deviation from their set formula. Women, on the other hand, are called out as soon as they start to hear a song that sounds a bit too similar to a previous big hit (Ariana had to re-do a whole album because of the negative reception to her lead single, Focus, as it was cited to be too similar to Problem). Women are under massive pressure to reinvent themselves multiple times, particularly if they're in pop whereas men tend to stay the same without comment. And lets not even get started on women being regarded as not as authentic as men when they get started in the industry.

[LOVEDRUG 10,223]

all i'm gonna say is that i want all my artists in glitter with dancers and their hair being blown by a fan, whether male or female. it's why i listen to next to no male artists except for david bowie and kpop artists. most of them (see shawn, ed etc.) have a few decent songs but they are so boring.

[The Wolf 3,987]

55 minutes ago, NATAH said:

i've literally seen people on this website complain that gaga, a woman with a disability, doesn't perform in heels like she used to

your 3 examples are nothing compared to the waves of pop women who have done the absolute most to entertain people

I am not responsible for every crazy fan on this site so blinded by nostalgia that they complain about something as irrelevant as what shoes she is wearing. The point I was trying to make is that there are female artists in the world who have been successful with a very toned down image. The existence of Billie Eilish proves it is possible for a woman with a stripped down image to succeed in pop music, even if that is the exception rather than the rule.

[The Wolf 3,987]

20 minutes ago, StrawberryBlond said:

Some of her views on feminism have been extremist before but when she gets it right, she gets it right. It's great to see people being unafraid to call out this double standard.  

Male pop artists tend to get better reviews from critics, though. And even when female artists have a stripped-back image, they're always under pressure to be look "presentable." Unlike Ed, they can't just show up with un-brushed hair, no make up and wearing yesterday's crumpled clothes. Adele just stands and sings but she's always dressed formally with perfect hair and make-up. I wouldn't consider Norah Jones or Joni Mitchell to be pop, that's where the difference lies. Clearly, the type of pop Zara's referring to is the bubbly, happy style that she makes, the traditional idea of what pop has been since the 80's. Billie probably is the one outlier but even if she isn't pressured to change her image (the opposite is true if anything, like when she got backlash for being too sexual, which is a problem all of its own), she's notably been under pressure from the beginning to push her vocal abilities and stop whispering instead of just accepting that this is her singing style. I notice that male artists are generally allowed to put out the same music of the same style over and over with absolutely no deviation from their set formula. Women, on the other hand, are called out as soon as they start to hear a song that sounds a bit too similar to a previous big hit (Ariana had to re-do a whole album because of the negative reception to her lead single, Focus, as it was cited to be too similar to Problem). Women are under massive pressure to reinvent themselves multiple times, particularly if they're in pop whereas men tend to stay the same without comment. And lets not even get started on women being regarded as not as authentic as men when they get started in the industry.

And why do you think that in pop music there is more of a pressure on women to look all glammed out? the answer to that is because people like Madonna pioneered so much of what we associate with the modern female popstar, it is simply what people have come to expect from a woman in pop music because it was a standard that was set long before today. I personally don't agree with type casting individuals in this way but that is the way it is because when people listen to mainstream pop music they are generally looking for something fun with exciting visuals. The mistake some people make is automatically associating stripped down with more talented.

[The Wolf 3,987]

52 minutes ago, StrawberryBlond said:

 

Male pop artists tend to get better reviews from critics, though.

What evidence do you have for this? with the exception of a few names like Harry Styles, it seems that the complete opposite has been the case in recent years. big mainstream male artists like Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Machine Gun Kelly and Coldplay have all been scathingly reviewed by critics lately. Female artists like Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Lana Del Ray, Dua Lipa and Lady Gaga get glowing reviews from critics. If an artist is getting tons of negative feedback, chances are its because the music they put out is trash not that they are being more or less harshly reviewed based on gender.

[weed 72,442]

21 minutes ago, 4th Street said:

What evidence do you have for this? with the exception of a few names like Harry Styles, it seems that the complete opposite has been the case in recent years. big mainstream male artists like Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Machine Gun Kelly and Coldplay have all been scathingly reviewed by critics lately. Female artists like Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Lana Del Ray, Dua Lipa and Lady Gaga get glowing reviews from critics. If an artist is getting tons of negative feedback, chances are its because the music they put out is trash not that they are being more or less harshly reviewed based on gender.

https://www.metacritic.com/browse/albums/score/metascore/all/filtered