Female labor and leadership in music

Abstract

Here we explore the contemporary practices of female participation in the music scenes in Serbia, and to an extent, in the Balkans. This research identified and described the possibilities, gendered constraints, and acts of transgressions that together weave a complex dynamic of female participation in popular music, in relation to the changing field of dominant gender ideologies in Serbia and the surrounding region. This work provides a critical analysis of gender issues in music-making and performing and of the topic of gendered labour in music, by relying on multiple case studies grounded in local contexts. We consider the mores and demands of the music market and everyday culture, their link to personal experiences, and the reach of the social institutions regarding music.Either as role models or cherished leaders, female musicians employ different tactics to fight stereotypes, strengthen communities, and ensure female participation. This work maps the strategies and tools they have been putting in place in order to sustain their audience, income, and presence to the best possible extent. Bearing in mind the imperative of transforming a standard way of working, communicating with audiences, and maintaining earning potential, this text singles out practices that could be recognised as (female) leadership in contemporary circumstances. We also consider a wider spectrum of roles that female musicians and music professionals have taken on or were awarded within their professional circles, local scenes, communities, or wider society.