Play Your Gender

Play Your Gender is an eye-opening documentary that premiered in 2016. This captivating film features prominent figures from the music industry including Melissa Auf der Maur, Patty Schemel, and Kinnie Starr. The primary focus of the film is to unravel and examine the discrepancies and challenges faced by women in the music industry.

The film is directed by Stephanie Clattenburg, who adeptly executes her vision of highlighting the glaring gaps that are often glossed over in the music industry, which is largely male-dominated. This project is deliberately curated to act as an open discussion, candidly exploring the experiences and stories of women currently working in the business.

The documentary features Melissa Auf der Maur, a Canadian musician, singer-songwriter, and photographer. She is best known as the bassist of the alternative rock bands Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins. Auf der Maur's role in the film contributes her firsthand experiences as a woman in the music industry. Her experiences highlight the challenges she faced, from being accepted as a competent artist to battling stereotypes against women artists.

The film also stars Patty Schemel, an American drummer known for her work with alternative rock band Hole. Schemel's experiences as a drummer in a rock band are used to shine a light on the relative scarcity of instrumentalists among women in bands. Through her narration, she successfully brings to light the surprising challenges of fitting into the stereotypical model of a “rock band," which is largely male.

Kinnie Starr, a Canadian musician, is also featured. She has been nominated for several Juno Awards and won the Juno Award for Indigenous Music Album of the Year in 2004. Starr’s experience as an indigenous woman in the music industry underscore an important perspective within the movie, broadening the narrative around the diversity of challenges faced by women in music.

These three primary narrators weave an intriguing and compelling story. Their experiences force viewers to question the reasons behind the lack of women at the screens and behind the scenes in the music industry. The film further explores the daunting statistics that accompany this reality. For instance, less than 5% of music producers are women, and there has been a shocking lack of female Grammy award winners in non-performing roles.

Play Your Gender does more than just present facts and figures. It is concentrated with personal stories, journeys, and experiences of women in the music industry that involve struggles and victories both large and small. These narratives, presented against the backdrop of a male-dominated music industry, evokes thought and discussion around long-standing gender roles and stereotypes.

Clattenburg brilliantly uses these stories to underline both the explicit and subtle forms of discrimination and prejudice that women in music often face. She takes the viewers on an enlightening tour of the landscape of the music industry. The film successfully pokes at the viewer's consciousness, making them reevaluate and question the uneven treatment of artists based purely on their gender.

Technical mastery, public acceptance, mainstream media depiction, issues of sexualization, and stereotypes about women in sound production are some of the prominent themes addressed in the movie. The film ventures into discussions about the cultural biases surrounding the association of technological skills with masculinity, the objectification women often face in the music industry, and misconceptions about women's aptitude for sound engineering.

Adorned with the power of seasoned musicians who have battled and thrived within the music industry, Play Your Gender is an engaging journey that brings to fore the discourse around gender equality in music. It ignites a much-needed dialogue on the vast gender-based discrepancies prevalent in the industry. Guided by an engaging tempo, the documentary resonates with anyone who believes in fair play and aspires to redefine antiquated roles and rules bound by gender biases.

In essence, Play Your Gender is a powerful, thought-provoking exploration of the music industry through the lens, experiences, and narratives of women. It invites the audience to think critically, question the status quo, and engage in honest conversations around systemic gender biases.