Our Recommendations: Gender Equality in Music

In 1995, Matthew Bourne presented a new production of “Swan Lake” that certainly made an impression on audiences. The cast was almost exclusively male, with feathered pants replacing tutus… And, by that difference alone, the show became subversive. It is, in fact, subversive in many other ways as well. Thirty years after its premiere at Sadler’s Wells in London, Matthew Bourne’s daring reinvention of Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece returns to France! Here’s a chance to (re)discover some images from this sublime and political production.

In late September, pop-electro singer Suzanne released her new album, “Millennium.” It’s a socially conscious and intimate album, and we got a sneak peek at one of its tracks earlier this summer with “Je t’accuse,” which resonates all the more this month, marked by the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women In her music video, we see ordinary people—men and women—as well as Muriel Robin and Caroline Darian. With “Virile,” another song from the album, she shatters gender stereotypes and assertively declares that she is “virile, like a girl.”

I hear I’m strong, just like a boy

Let me fight like a boy

I look so lost, just like a boy

People say I’ve got some in my pants

But I’m as strong as any girl

I know how to fight like a girl

I hold my head high, just like everyone else

The Other Girls

A closer look at “Dieu est grande” by rapper Youssoupha. Written for his daughter Imany and released last January, this song is meant to be listened to as if you were reading a letter. A letter from a father who wants his daughter to be happy, even as she navigates a world that will likely not go easy on her. He hopes she’ll take her rightful place, love herself just as she is, love her Culture, love who she is, stand up for herself, and forge her own path.

You don’t have to be just another girl

You don’t have to be Michelle Obama

You don’t have to want to be a mother

You don’t have to want to be a queen

Women’s Voices: Episode 1/5 of the podcast *La musique faite femmes* | France Culture

The questions posed by journalist Zoé Sfez at the beginning of the show set the tone. “Since the dawn of recorded music, female singers’ voices have constantly evolved in style, timbre, and phrasing. Why do the nightingale-like voices of the 1930s seem so distant to us? What is ‘vocal fry,’ and why has it become so prevalent in the United States in recent years? … What remains of the vocalists of the 1990s?”

As you can see, here we treat the voice as an instrument in its own right and dissect its evolution. So what do these changes tell us about our societies throughout the ages?

“Women of a certain age become invisible.” The Riot Women experience this every day, and they’re determined to do something about it. In this new BBC series, these five women in their fifties break free from gender stereotypes and ageism and decide to start a rock Group—much to our delight. A production that is undoubtedly funny, spot-on, and biting. As evidenced by this already iconic quote: “We write songs about being in our fifties, going through menopause, and being more or less invisible. Yeah, and you thought The Clash were angry.”