Why is The Bar For Women In Pop Much Higher Than Men?

Some of the most influential artists of all time in music are women. Hell, a lot of them are. From Aretha Franklin to Debbie Harry to Madonna to Janet Jackson to Rihanna, women past and present have shaped, defined and revolutionised the landscape across all genres.

Rap, rock, soul, R&B, pop - they’re often at the top, delivering discographies that have transformed radio, video, streaming and will undoubtedly lead the way into the next era of music, whenever that change occurs.

However, as a result of them consistently raising the bar they are - almost by default - all required to maintain the highest standards set by whoever is deemed ‘the most successful’. So, it begs the question, if we put so much pressure on women then why are our expectations for men so low?

It’s no grand surprise that women in music have endured more hardships than men due to the nasty nature of sexism. Yet despite the supposed progress made in society over the past 40 years, we haven’t seen much change in the treatment of the women who dedicate their lives to entertaining us.

The comparison between standards for men and women in pop has certainly been made before, however the quick dismissal of female artists on social media recently has us questioning the misogyny once again.

Take Dua Lipa, for example. The budding superstar spent eight weeks at Number 1 in the UK this summer with her glorious summer anthem ‘One Kiss’. She is performing in front of international crowds of 75,000 people at her own headline festival. She was honoured with 3 BRIT Awards earlier this year and is up for her first ever MTV Video Music Awards at this month’s VMAs. For being one album deep into her career, she is doing phenomenally well - and rightly so.

For some people, though, she’s simply not doing enough. Every other day tweets make their way onto my timeline mocking her choreography and shunning her for a supposed lack of stage presence. While everyone is certainly entitled to have their own opinions and personal expectations, the collective dismissal of Dua as an artist for not attempting to deliver dance routines in her performances seems odd. Has she ever proclaimed to be a dancer? If she did try complex choreography and didn’t live up to everyone’s expectations - which, for the record, is impossible - then would she be praised for giving it a go or slandered for failing?

Similar to Dua is Selena Gomez, one of the most prolific pop stars of her generation, who receives similar criticism for not replicating the kinds of dance-heavy performances that Janet Jackson and Britney Spears delivered with spell-binding ease at her age.

Although, to be shocked by this almost feels laughable when Britney Spears has been brutally criticised for the entirety of her career for her performances, even when delivering the show-stopping moments and intricate choreography (with precision, fluidity and unmatched star quality) that are absent in Gomez’s. Personal life aside, Britney has not even been given the respect she deserves for her professional career because - even after 20 years - the fact that she has almost always lip synced immediately strips her of any credibility, for some.

Even now, as she takes her blockbuster Vegas residency Piece Of Me overseas for a sold-out arena tour, the majority of Spears’ concert reviews will take off brownie points for this reason. What’s even sadder is the constant comparison between 36-year-old Britney and her 18-year-old self, as she is expected to maintain the standards set by herself back when the Spice Girls were still together. It’s a sad state of affairs when we cannot collectively enjoy an icon still performing and celebrating her legacy after so many years while David Beckham could never kick a ball again yet will go down as a legend for a penalty scored before Brooklyn was even born.

Pop icons Madonna and Janet Jackson are responsible for the cycle of reinvention - in terms of both image and sound - as well as creating the format of major pop concerts as we know them today. Theatrical, with storylines and overarching themes being told through multiple acts, complete with costume changes, sets and dancers; things that are now considered mandatory for any tour, large or small. On top of this, they consistently topped their previous output with every release and dominated the charts year on year. And looked beautiful, were slim, stylish, cool, sexy, funny, nice, wrote their own songs, produced their own music, the list goes on.

Although, this is all true for Michael Jackson, too. Prince. George Michael. Justin Timberlake. Yet for some reason nobody is demanding for Ed Sheeran to moonwalk, dissing Justin Bieber for lip syncing on his tours or complaining that Niall Horan doesn’t have five custom made costumes from various design houses throughout the world for his live shows.

The bizarre way that we - and I say we because I, too, am guilty of expecting the most from women because of the standard my idols set - struggle to allow female artists to express themselves in different ways, while accepting that most men will wander along stages alone, maybe with a guitar or what have you, must change. This isn’t even necessarily about demanding more from the men, either.

It’s more importantly about appreciating women for all of their worth and not wishing for them to exhaust themselves silly by trying to do it all, as we’ve watched Lady Gaga do by trying to deliver everything at once even when something as serious and important as her physical health is concerned. Standards set by the greatest pop icons are wonderful to have as they showed the world what first-class entertainment is, and it’s healthy for artists to be inspired to reach those heights. Although, it’s time to stop forcing women to match those before them when their male counterparts are never asked to do such a thing.

Beyoncé, Rihanna, Charli XCX and Taylor Swift are four unique artists - why would we ever expect the same from them? And would it even be interesting? Different artists serve different purposes and we love them individually for what they each bring to the table. Pop music wouldn’t be interesting if everyone were the same, so let’s allow all women to do their own thing on their own terms and not be bashed for it.

As for dance breaks making a swift return in music videos? Fellas, help the ladies out - they’ve been carrying you lot for years now.

Words: Ross McNeilage