Composing and Diversity
OK, so first off I would like to start by saying that this blog is my own opinions, thoughts and to be honest ramblings. It's not going to be a well written education sourced journal of facts. Sorry. And I will go on a tangent of diversity in general, but anyway....
When it comes to diversity in the composing arena, it is well known that it's one sided. Mainly white males, often of middle class. This my be due to the ideals and industry stereotypes of old. High profile schools promoting amongst themselves to their contacts in the industry. A case of WHO you you know. However this does seem to be changing. Due to the rise in the voice of the people, social media, and the transparency this creates in industry and companies. I believe this is a problem. Let me tell you why (the tangent).
Now, the promotion and call for diversity is everywhere. Everywhere. If a company doesn't have enough black, women, or any 'minority' group in it's employees, the world hears about it. If someone is a victim of prejudice or abuse, the world hears about it. And this is good. BUT. I believe the abolition of segregation is a long game. It is embedded deep within societies morals. Morals take time to change. By putting sooo much media coverage on how this group and that group is segregated just enforces the idea that we all have our own little groups and we are different. Why can't we just be 'people'. Now i realise this is a very naive liberal idea, and not the world we live in. We do need injustices bought to attention to combat them. But it needs to be done smarter. If we can start to promote the idea of just 'people' rather than grouping, this idea may stick in our great grand kid's ideals. Now this seems to be a topic today, with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, condemning his staff for altering the #BlackLivesMatter to #All Lives Matter. And he is right. To dismiss the more precise issue of the black community, especially by crossing out the 'Black', effectively silencing that part, is wrong. But only in today's society with our own morals is it wrong.
Someday, the future will hopefully be #AllLivesMatter. It reminds me of a South Park (of all things) episode, where there is a racial dispute over a flag, but the kid's didn't even register race in their minds. They didn't see the issue of colour. It was not in their ideology. (When Chef stands up and demands they address the racist aspect of the flag, he and the rest of the adults discover that the children had not even perceived that there was a racist aspect, seeing the flag as a man being hanged without registering his color, and had instead thought that the issue at hand was capital punishment.) It also rmeindes me of the anti-joke. What do you call a Black Pilot? .. A pilot...
So while today's world is getting better and using social media as a voice against injustices against minorities, this will never change if we continue this way. In fact this pressure of being seen under this negative light, and viewed by so many that use social media, can be so daunting that it creates even more of a problem. Companies and organisations must be seen to be diverse, so they go out of their way to promote diversity and fail (#prettycurious EDF competition) or even hire people just to become more diverse. Is that not still racist, sexist etc? 'I will hire you Because you are black, a woman...'. BBC's new Top Gear roster comes to mind. Now I'm sure Rory Reid is a very good, professional presenter. But the BBC do have a history of 'Look how diverse we are, aren't we so good'. Did they hire him for his skills or his skin? I will give them the benefit of the doubt, and the female presenter Sabine Schmitz, was obviously chosen for her skills as we have seen before, not just as a 'woman presenter'. Hopefully, future generations will just think 'I will hire you because you are the most skilled'. And to be honest, I'm not a racist or a sexist because that's what's right, but simply because I don't give a f*ck. I do not care what you are, as long as you are a good person or the right person for a job etc. And the whole 'Look how diverse we are, isn't it great' is still an issue! Not only do they just want to look good, but they still see race or gender! Everyone can relate to the idea that success through achievement is better than success through preferential treatment, right?
When I see so much of this social media shaming people who are prejudice in some way, and I see a lot, I feel like I'm going mad. I know I can't be the only one who thinks like this, so how are there so so many people still making decisions based on race or gender and making comments that are based on stereotypes? I get that the younger generation is better for not doing this, and perhaps older gens are just ignorant and stuck in this way of society. But really, I see it everywhere, everyday. It's eye opening just how many people treat people a certain way based on race or gender. What's saddening is I thought that the majority of people of a younger generation did not see race or gender as much, and all this will slowly fade out... And while the UK does have issues of race and gender equality, it is still quite a leader in world diversity. So perhaps it is my own life that makes these views. Places such as the Middle East have their views on women, and America has race issues. This wont change over night. And sometimes it's so ingrained that it seems a dream that it will change. Perhaps this is the beginning of change though. We aren't there just yet, but we have started. But back to music (Wow, that tangent went on a bit...)
With music and composition, there is a shift. We are seeing more diversity, with focus especially on women and composing. In fact one of my favourite composers ever is Jessica Curry, formally the composer of the video game developers 'The Chinese Room'. She has risen to the top with her beautiful scores, and often comments on the struggles she had, and still has. But she did not give up and pushed harder and it is paying off. But again, it is only due to so much social media coverage on these struggle's that I see this side. When I first heard her music, it did not even enter my head about male or female composer, just that the music was amazing. What does it matter on gender with music? It's a ludicrous notion. And if my generation can all think like that, then the future of this industry might be not so bad for equality. Surely music should be the one area of humanity where race and gender just become irrelevant. Music is the most beautiful thing we do, because it transcends all else. But the current top dogs of the composing world seem to not get that notion. Ironic huh? I feel this wont last.
However, again I bring up my point of too much coverage brings too much fear for perception of a diverse industry. As an upcoming composer, I look for any chances I can get for work, or being singed up to an organisation. As a white male this should be fine right? Wrong. I don't have Daddy's connections, and I'm not a minority. I see so many ads and campaigns for women composers it's crazy. This is NOT bad. This is great, absolutely get women on board. But again, this doesn't solve the issues. If they get into the industry, they still face the issues of stereotypes from the old codgers upstairs. And this isn't even touching on the mainstream music industry which is a whole other story. But also where are my chances? What competitions or programmes can I enter? Music should be about just that. Music. A simple, show us your music, don't care who or what you are, just play it.
Long story short (literally.. oops), diversity needs to be handled so much more smarter than it is. Tackling the hardships or lack of opportunities among certain groups is great. And it is working. Women especially are becoming more equal (at least in England) every day due to awareness. There is still a long way to go, but it is working. But the idea of these 'groups' needs to be handled better. So that one day, our future children will look back and be baffled by the idea of treating someone different are daft stereotypes based on colour or gender or sexual orientation or anything. Why don't we lay the foundation of this idea with music. After all music has already changed so much in society.
