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Artists
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Music
Parade Reporter
W
hile some female artists
across the cultural spectrum
– art, music, dance, theatre
and film - believe they have achieved
their long sought-after
equality in
the industry, the majority still say the
opposite is true. So, what can women
do to gain equal respect like their male
colleagues in the sector?
Fact - women have made great strides
towards acceptance and equality on
many fronts, but the arts and music
industry still remains a man’s domain.
For some female musicians like
celebrated Zimbabwean gospel icon
Fungisayi Zvakavapano-Mashavave, the
experience of playing a gig in a rowdy
environment was an eye-opener as it
helped to remove all illusions.
“It really opened up my eyes,” said the
“Makomborero” and “Toita Zvedenga”
hitmaker following a date at the famed
Jazz 105 recently.
“It proved that women are still
marginalised in this male-dominated
industry as well as in society in general,”
added the gospel diva who is set to
launch her ninth album soon.
She has travelled and performed both
regionally and internationally and her
music has impacted the lives of many
people through the uplifting messages in
her music.
“I now know some of the challenges
that are being faced by women in the
music, arts and culture industry,”
explained Fungisayi, a recent Women’s
University in Africa graduate.
Fungisayi is not a lonesome voice on
stage.
Kudzi Sevenzo, actress, musician
and radio presenter, echoes the same
sentiments:
“There are double standards,” she says.
“You may find that a woman has to shout
twice as loud to get even half the mileage
that her male counterpart may get.”
Respect, at a professional level, is hard
to get for females.
The ZiFM radio personality, who also
does voice-overs for several commercial
productions, goes on, “the only thing I
worry about is some promoters with a
tendency to sideline women for reasons
they may have, one of which is just
because one is a woman. But is it fair?
Not at all,” emphasizes the photogenic
diva whose star is rising and shining.
Upcoming filmmaker, photojournalist
and multimedia artist, Vivienne Lucas,
shares similar views, saying women in
the arts are generally but wrongly seen
as loose or mere sexual objects “ready for
the taking.”
“Most promoters or financiers are men
and they do not take us seriously as they
do our brothers,” she says, adding that
currently, men control the ropes and pull
the strings.
The challenges and frustrations are
not only confined to the young upcoming
women in the sector, but even those who
have been in the trenches have similar
tales to tell.
Women are still routinely described
by their physical appearance and seldom
by their talent – descriptions seldom
utilized in the write-ups for male artists.
This stereotypical view is “a product
of our environment”, says acclaimed
international filmmaker and famous
writer Tsitsi Dangarembga, observing
that for women “it’s a hard road to travel
but as women, but we have to carry on
regardless”.
Dangarembga, whose novel “Nervous
Conditions” (1988) has become a
modern African classic, has in her
works dealt with the oppressive nature
of a patriarchal family structure and a
woman’s coming-of-age.
“My soul is African,” she once declared.
Author Virginia Phiri, who displays
similar unbridled independence in her
life and work, says as women in the arts,
they face numerous obstacles thrown
their way.
“Although all writers face more or less
similar challenges, as women writers,
we learnt to grow thick skins and to
pursue our dreams,” says the Bulawayoborn writer.
The Parade - Zimbabwe’s Most Read Lifestyle Magazine
Another Zimbabwean writer Donette
Kruger Read, in the country at the
moment after time travelling and
working mostly in Western Europe, says:
“No one ever said it was going to
be easy, and, believe you me, it’s not
easy being a female writer or an artist
anywhere in the world.”
As a result of the chal