Sammy Honeysett on being female in the music industry
Having just released her debut EP ‘Queen of Wands’, Sydney-based singer-songwriter Sammy Honeysett has written an open letter about being female in the music industry:
When I was a little kid, my parents told me I could be anything I wanted to be. That’s what most parents say, right? They encourage us to use our imaginations, to never feel limited by the word ‘impossible’.
Until I decided I wanted to be a musician.
Suddenly, I needed a backup plan.
“Music’s not a viable career option,” explained my maths teacher when I was in year 9 and missed 20 minutes of his class every second week for a guitar lesson, “you need to be focusing on your coursework.” It didn’t matter, of course, that my brothers were allowed to leave early to make their athletic commitments. They were different. They were elite athletes.
It was a similar conversation at home, too. My parents understood that I was passionate about music but experienced the understandable worry that accompanied the knowledge that their child was dead set on pursuing an industry that is competitive and cutthroat, one where success is almost never guaranteed, and one where females are almost constantly belittled and patronised, especially by men just like my year 9 maths teacher.
With all their advice and their cautious support, I got into a performing arts school and finally felt like I was doing something right. I could pursue my truest passion. Later on, I embarked on my own solo path and released some music I’ve been pretty stoked about.
Making art and expressing it to people that support you is great. However, it’s not so great when you start receiving unsolicited opinions about that art from males in your industry – males that have told me I’m not ‘strong enough’ to break into the mainstream or that I need to be dressing a certain way to get people to actually buy tickets to my shows.
At the level I’ve reached in my career, it’s quite hard to persevere through the stress of being a female and learning the hard way that, unfortunately, this statement is true. I’ve been booked for shows by people that do so because of an image I present, as opposed to the art I’m pouring my heart into, which is what it should be about.
Social media exacerbates this stress. The pressures constantly amplified by knowing I need to keep my audience engaged, wondering how to keep them engaged, and the unspoken feeling of competition between myself and my fellow female artist friends and acquaintances.
Social media also allows for the competition to turn ugly pretty quick. When someone puts out a piece of art that’s so full of self-expression, emotion and pure, raw female liberation, it’s more often than not females that try to tear the artist down.
Women in this industry need to be lifting each other up! Haven’t we realised that we’re stronger together against the litany of complaints from men telling us we need to be sexier, that our art isn’t ‘deep enough’, or that we need to wear a different outfit to pull in a large crowd at a show? I’m putting a call out. Let’s stand together, support each other, and encourage each other to start using our imaginations again. To stop being limited by individuals that tell us it’s ‘impossible’ to succeed if we’re not conforming to standards that they’ve set.
I wanted to be a musician, so that’s what I became. Nothing impossible about it.
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