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We should all be seen us artistes, not female artistes just like our male counterparts – Wendy Shay advocates for equal recognition.
Ghanaian singer-songwriter, Wendy Shay has spoken out against the objectification of women in the music industry, calling it unfair treatment, and stated her thoughts about it.
In a recent interview on Berla Mundi’s Day Show on TV3, the self-proclaimed dancehall queen expressed her displeasure with the labelling of female musicians as ‘female artistes,’ while their male counterparts are simply referred to as ‘artistes.’
Wendy Shay strongly pushed for equal treatment, claiming that women in the music industry put in just as much, if not more, effort as men do and should be treated equally as musicians.
“It is not fair. First of all, I don’t even like the fact that people go like ‘female artistes’ because you don’t see our male counterparts being labeled as ‘male artistes’. They are seen as artistes so we should be seen as such. We are artistes,” she suggested.
She emphasized the dedication and efforts of female musicians like Sister Efya and herself, saying that they put in a lot of effort and sweat and deserve to be recognized for their work.
“Putting that aside, I think it’s not fair because there are so many women who are really working hard; like me, Wendy Shay. We have artistes like Sister Efya working hard. It’s about time Ghanaians or this part of our world acknowledge the hard work, effort and sweat we put in,” she mentioned.
Wendy Shay addressed the difficulties women still face in this region of the world in achieving leadership positions and acknowledged that there is still a cultural mentality that equates women with mostly domestic responsibilities.
She did, however, express optimism that with time and development, society will advance to accept and value the contributions of women in leadership roles across a variety of industries, including music.