The Plight of the Black Female Artist in Gospel Music
Written by Jurne Smith
I was brought into this think piece after watching and listening to an extensive late night talk on Gospel artist Jonathan McReynolds’ Instagram Live on Tuesday, December 8th, 2020. The question that was being covered, argued, and analyzed was at surface level pretty basic and obvious. But this two part inquiry, when set under a microscope, is in fact a little more dense, and slightly deeper, than can be answered in a mere two sentences and a concise sociopolitical quip. The question, or questions, was as follows: Do Black female Gospel artists receive less support from Black female consumers than their artistic male counterparts in the business, and why? Now statistically speaking, women are known to be the main consumers within the United States, and music is no different. And as a consumer of Gospel music myself, I too have noticed the trend in the amount of attention, praise, and general hype around male artists versus female artists within the Gospel industry.
Now Jonathan McReynolds was clever in his initial approach to this semi sensitive topic, seeing as whenever a male tries to speak on a seemingly “female issue”, especially in 2020, they can expect some hostility and defensiveness. There were several women he brought on from the audience present to lead in the discussion and bounce ideas, and counter ideas, off of in order to gain a better perspective on the female psyche and their buying habits. I appreciate that the scope was set so narrowly to focus on what is and has been happening in the Gospel industry specifically because areas such as R&B and Pop hold within themselves their own particular outliers. And even though the audiences often intersect, there is still a distinctive culture between them that sets them apart as their own machines. I don’t expect this short “article” to hash out all of the details and angles to fully encapsulate the depth and girth of a complete answer…but I’ll give it a go.
In case anyone was unaware, there is a cultural (read also racial) difference between what America claims to be Christian music versus Gospel music. If you don’t believe me just google Christian artists and the Gospel artists and tell me who pops up. Even though we’re singing about Jesus, in order to further clear up any confusion or miscommunication, when I say Gospel music or Gospel artists I am specifically referring to Black Christian artists who have been placed within that category due to their sound/audience demographic in the United States. Also disclaimer, I recognize that there are Black Christian artists who are placed in the Christian music section and not the Gospel music section because of their audience demographic, and I would love to speak further on that at another time.
Before we get into the question itself it’s important for people to understand this cultural and historical machine that is the Gospel industry, broadly and briefly. Of course Gospel music, Christian music, or Jesus music (however you like to relate to it) has been around for thousands of years since Man first started making music about God. But once it became a capitalized industry within the United States, the way in which consumers related to and interacted with it distinctly set it apart from other genres like R&B and Pop music. Gospel music and subsequently Gospel artists not only have to carry the burden of above average musical talent, but there is also placed on them a higher sense of morality that is built into the very fabric of the machine. Unlike the secular artists who can choose to rebel and take off any sense of objective morality, or responsibility to be a role model, as they choose in the name of art itself. The same is in fact impossible for the Gospel artist. The Gospel artist carries the unflinching moral standards of the Bible and the Church (which isn’t always entirely rooted in the Bible), the expectation for unreachable talent and “oil”, and to also balance the wants of the church and the business to sell records.
So now that everyone is hopefully on the same page we can talk about why Black female Gospel artists don’t receive the same amount of support from Black female consumers as Black male Gospel artists. Well…the short answer is intrinsic misogyny and pick-me culture, male domination, racial oppression, sales-based consumerism, company and consumer relational contract, personal preference, and poisonous church culture. Whew! And that’s the short answer. Some of these things were discussed in the talk on McReynolds’ live, which he may or may not save and keep. I also think a few of them are self explanatory and may not need as much digital space to dissect as others, so I’ll stick to the heavier ones for now.
If we want to get real, raw, and honest. If you’ve lived in America all your life as a woman, then you carry subconscious bias and misogyny. It’s not necessarily our fault because we do live in a fallen world where patriarchy, whiteness, and the oppression of the political and economic minority reigns in the mainstream. As women we have bee trained to compete for men, for their attention, their approval, and their entertainment. And if you’re a heterosexual cis-gendered female specifically, then you desire men. As a Christian, us women have to go about this desire a little differently than nonbelievers. We have to have a little more tact and demure so as not to be labeled a harlot, fast and easy, desperate, unholy, a jezebel, etc. When it comes to the artist that draws our attention, we gravitate towards the subjectively attractive, God-fearing, and talented man more so than the subjectively attractive, God-fearing, and talented woman. Yeah they’re both talented and equal on paper, but since I’m a heterosexual cis-gendered female I’m going to have more attention, or really a different type of attention, on the man versus the woman. At that point it’s simply biological.
On top of all that we as consumers, both male and female, are taught to be more critical of women than men. Culturally in America, Black women succeeding is still treated as a rare case and one that disrupts the white male social structure that has been in place. Sadly, it is carried out in the music industry as well where somehow there is plenty of room for male artists, but only a select few seats available for women. So they are encouraged to fight for a spot metaphorically and be pitted against one another as “the best”. Hopefully we continue to make strides against such base notions and realize that there’s room for everyone at the table, as long as everyone stays in their own seat and doesn’t hog the space.
Now where the misogyny slips in is with the internal criticisms some female consumers give to female Gospel artists, that sometimes makes its way out into the public sphere. That jealousy and envy can come from various places within a person’s heart, one such being the competitive nature women have been taught to have against one another. The Gospel industry is small compared to other popular genres, and so often the female artists will be rubbing elbows with those very same attractive male artists. As a result, you get haters. People who will spew out nonsensical opinions about the appearance or talent of a female artist because she’s ultimately receiving the attention the consumer wants in their heart. Crazy I know, but it happens, just hop on Christian Twitter and see for yourself. To be clear though, I don’t assume that this is the main reason why female consumers don’t support female Gospel artists proportionate to male artists. I have found that this is just of the INITIAL reasons for the “breakout artists struggle” because the physical appearance of the female artist, matched with their untouchable vocal abilities, can make insecure women who see their celebrity crushes praising the female Gospel artist envious. As long as the male artist, whether they’re a Gospel singer or Secular, stays seemingly “available” or unattached to a woman (read married), then the Christian female consumer is allowed to continue to fantasize about being picked as The One. When a new female Gospel artist steps in and starts collaborating with, or being seen around someone’s celebrity crush, it creates a dissonance and periodic disturbance in the consumer’s fantasy until it can be confirmed that the relationship is platonic.
In order for a female artist to be taken seriously she has to be 10 times better than everyone currently in the industry that may be seen as competition, again we go back to the notion of there being limited seats at the table. A secular artist can get away with borderline mediocre vocals as long as the song is catchy, but the same is far from the truth for female Gospel artists. Gospel music has a look and a sound. Period. And like any other arena you’re going to have those who come in as an outlier and don’t always fit perfectly into either the look or the sound. Every record company knows that there is a system and a formula that works, and by works I mean “sells the most records and brings in the most revenue”. The culture of Gospel music itself is rooted in vocal acrobatics, runs that last a marathon, and soul that makes you give the stank face ’cause it hit you so good. Pair this level of talent that is expected from a Gospel artist straight out the gate with the notion of male centered competitiveness, misogynoir, and consumer attraction…if an artist doesn’t fit snuggly into the mold that has been finely shaped for a female Gospel artist, they’re going to have to work unreasonably hard to prove their place on the stage. Female Gospel artists have to be sanctified and attractive, fresh and traditional, perfect and relatable, supernaturally gifted and down to earth. Yes, male Gospel artists go through this too, but the caliber is not set 1:1.
Black women in general are not given the same liberties as their racial or gendered counterparts. It should be no surprise to anyone that we live in a male dominated country that exports certain goods with the male gaze in mind. Like I noted before, there is an underlying pick-me culture that the music industry as a whole perpetuates and subtly endorses to its consumers. What used to happen was that female artists would be explicitly put out for the male gaze like little sex dolls depending on your kink. Now the shift has focused from giving men what they want to giving women what they think men want. The female artist in general has become an icon for some women to desire to be like so as to attract a man, whether they want to admit it or not. Sure it’s not always about a man for the female consumers in so much as they are wanting to attract a man, but more so that they want to rise above a man (read female empowerment/sexual liberation). While these thoughts come off as pro woman, such feminist takes are still centering men in the justification for their actions and artistic preferences. This is not to conclude that female consumers are boy crazy, not in the least bit. It’s to show the ways in which men have dominated our culture in ways that have been detrimental, oppressive, and toxic to women at certain points in history and present day. Forcing us to find freedom, empowerment, and safety in other things, like music.
While I would love to delve deeper into everything I pointed out in my response, this is only supposed to be a SHORT think piece so I will leave you all with this last note. Church culture can be hypocritical and hypercritical when it comes to the treatment and expectations of the sexes. Depending on which church you grew up in or are currently attending, some of y’all have been taught the ways of Man instead of the ways of the Son of Man. Sorry, but somebody had to tell you. If anyone saw the documentary of the Clark Sisters then you can get an idea of some of the sexist traditions that were, and still are in place in some churches. Female Gospel artists get put under so much heat when it comes to things like what they wear, how they style their hair, if they’re coming off as too glamorous, or not put together enough. Erica Campbell came under so much fire for wearing a white, form fitting, long sleeved, turtle necked maxi dress against a white backdrop for her album cover a few years ago. Even though quite literally nothing but her face and hands were showing, the simple fact that this curvy woman had her curves showing was enough for people to start an uproar. The female Gospel artist’s body is still sexualized by the body of Christ. They are still seen as forbidden fruit and a distraction to “sanctified” men, and I use that term loosely. The Gospel female artist is encouraged and pressured to present herself as non threatening to the male gaze.
You may be asking how this relates to why female consumers don’t support female Gospel artists as much as they do male Gospel artists. Well, male Gospel artists are not threatening to male church leaders, male church goers, and male Gospel music consumers. Male Gospel artists are easier to market because there are less barriers placed in front of them by the Church and secular society, compared to female Gospel artists. It’s easier to grab the female consumers attention with an attractive male artist than with a female artist assuming the female consumer is a heterosexual cis-gendered woman. Female consumers can tend towards liking other female secular artists that male Gospel artists have shown attraction to rather than female Gospel artists because the latter is a little too close to home, and the reality of two Gospel artists getting together is a bit more realistic. Finally, to sum this all up, female Gospel artists are placed on a higher moral ground than male Gospel artists which can in turn make it easier for them to be torn down or have rocks thrown at them for their imperfections.
