Tim za socijalno uključivanje i smanjenje siromaštva

The panel discussion “Music Has No Gender” was held as part of Mikser Festival on 11 June, organized by the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit, with discussion about the experiences of local female musicians on the current music scene. The participants in the discussion were Ana Ćurčin, singer and guitar player, Kristina Lalić, DJ, Nataša Tasić Knežević, opera singer and Maja Cvetković, frontwoman of the E-play band. The moderator of the discussion was the blogger Milanka Lana Nikolić, one of the regular authors on the Social Inclusion Blog.

Art should imply equality in every sense. However, gender-based discrimination is very present in this area, as well as other fields, judging by the Gender Equality Index, at only 46.6 in Serbia, while it is at 52.9 in the EU, indicating we are still far from equality regarding gender issues.

Women are in a more unfavourable position not only in art in general, but also in music, where they frequently face various forms of discrimination, objectification or underestimation of their potential on the music scene, therefore often feeling the need to prove themselves, investing greater efforts to attain certain results, being underrepresented at festivals regarding both bands and individual performances.

The idea of the event was to connect music and gender equality and providing insight into the experiences of female musicians, as well as discuss the extent to which stereotypes and patriarchal norms dominate the music industry. The goal of the panel was to motivate and inspire those working in gender equality to open the perspective for women’s creative work on the one hand, as well as artists on the status of gender equality in creative work on the other hand, but also to stimulate women who need a push to engage in a creative adventure. During the discussion the guests discussed their experiences, attitudes and observations regarding the status of women in music.

During the conclusion all the musicians emphasized the importance of women working in music, as well as those that wish to, but lack the courage to start, to believe in themselves and work on what they love, even if they do not have the support of their environment.

We hope this discussion stimulated women who only needed a bit of encouragement to fearlessly engage in what they love, and that in the future we will have more discussions engaging in important issues such as this, as well as more female musicians on the scene, since as the title says, music has no gender and may not have one, because it represents the universal language of connection and creation.