Charlotte Church: industry is ‘sexist’
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Charlotte Church says coercion by executives to dress in revealing clothes has resulted in “being called slut, whore and a catalogue of other indignities”.
SINGER Charlotte Church has made a stinging attack on sexism in the music industry, contributing to the heated commentary about artists like Miley Cyrus and Rihanna.
Church, who made her arguments during an annual lecture on British radio, says she was "pressurised" by male executives into wearing skimpy outfits when she was only 19 or 20, the BBC reports.
The music business is "a male dominated industry with a juvenile perspective on gender and sexuality" and increasingly wants "sex objects that appear child-like", Church claimed.
Young singers, she says, are required "to present themselves as hypersexualised, unrealistic, cartoonish, as objects, reducing female sexuality to a prize you can win".
Now 27, Church says that young female artists are often "coerced into sexually demonstrative behaviour in order to hold on to their careers". She recalls being reminded by executives “just whose money was being spent”.
A 2005 video for her single Call My Name, in which the star wears not much more than a corset and knee-high boots, left her feeling “massively uncomfortable”.
The consequence, she says, of acquiescing to the demands of those men, is that she is now "frequently abused on social media, being called slut, whore and a catalogue of other indignities."
Welsh singer Charlotte Church has made a stinging attack on sexism in the music industry. Picture: Joel Ryan
She also suspects it has affected her ability to promote her music in places it might be best suited, "because of [her] history".
Church reserved special criticism for Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke, whose provocative performance at the MTV Awards last month sparked a furore over representations of women in popular culture and inspired singer Sinead O’Connor to pen an open letter to Cyrus, warning her against being exploited.
Church is also in favour of pop music videos carrying age ratings, as films do.
