Music & Gender

Yay Concerts!!

So I'm a pretty big fan of concerts, and I notice that they can be an important aspect of musical artists' careers. I'm no expert or analyst of them but I like to watch clips of concerts on TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram, and I sometimes come across videos or comments that compare the concerts of female and male artists. One particular point that often reoccurs is the difference in stage presence.  

In general, women have a more diverse range of fashion and tend to change their looks (generally based on what's in trend) more frequently than men do. When at a fancy event, women are rarely seen wearing the exact same style and color of dress while men usually wear very similar-looking or the same design of suits. And to clarify, there's nothing bad about this difference, it's just what's normalized and preferred for both males and females. This is also often seen in concerts, especially with very popular artists, where female artists tend to have more unique and 'fancy' outfits/styles, as well as more organized and complex props and choreographies, while male artists tend to wear simpler clothing and are more casual or natural with their dances/movements. The artists I am including in this blog are mainly pop/rap singers.  

 

Above are only two examples of recent concerts performed by male artists, but both had one (sort of) "costume" change, and it was just taking off an article of clothing. Their outfit choices are also ones that seem to be everyday casual wear-- t-shirts, hoodies, and jeans. Compared to most female concerts, Post Malone, Lil Uzi Vert, and a lot of other male artists are the only ones in their concerts performing as the center of attention (excluding their band, there are no backup dancers and such) and also have more non-choreographed dances or movements. They generalize with simplicity, mainly walking around and doing random actions while singing. In many of these types of male concerts, the artists are more interactive with the crowd.

Of course I had to add in The Eras Tour since it's the biggest concert of the year and there's a nice little trailer that shows all of her different outfits in one short video. Yes, Taylor Swift purposely has different outfits to match each of her ten eras, but they're all very uniquely designed and not just different colored t-shirts and pants. Dua Lipa, and other female artists, also have these stylish types of clothing in concerts and it even inspires fans to wear fancy costumes based on the artist's aesthetic. I notice that they also have at least one outfit that is very sparkly and jeweled, and we can't forget the fact that they perform in heels. 

Furthermore, compared to what I mentioned earlier with the male concerts, these female artists have specific choreographed dances that they participate in and also include many other dancers performing with them. They also tend to have more complex lighting sequences, props, and more. 

These videos are an example of how this difference in stage presence has been normal for quite some time. I also decided to use concerts of One Direction and Little Mix because I've seen this comparison a lot on social media (and for a little group/band representation). There definitely are a lot more crazy and elaborate visuals and lighting in the 1D concert than the male artist concerts that I showed before, but they still go with the simplistic clothing and movements. 

To a lot of people, these differences are considered to be female vs. male expectations, where female artists are criticized for not being "talented enough" when performing more basic and simpler (like male artists). Although this may be true and contribute to the fact that female concerts are more extra, it's definitely worth it to the fans and all concerts are fun in general, having a main purpose of providing the fans a one-in-a-lifetime enjoyable and thrilling experience to see their favorite artists live!