We all live in the same planet, but for some reason we find ways to separate ourselves from each other. We devise borders that separate nations, and we make distinctions about differences in cultures and even skin color. We define ourselves by our religious and political beliefs. Even our genders are used to separate us, and somehow even our sexual preferences set us apart.
But sometimes we can get our act together and we accept and even embrace diversity. One good example of this is the music industry. The music industry can teach us a few things about diversity:
1. Gender doesn’t matter.
Take a look at the most popular musical acts today, and you’ll find that both men and women can be superstars. Women may feel marginalized in the general work sector, but Beyoncé is at the top, along with Taylor Swift and Rihanna. It has always been so, since the time of Aretha and the Supremes. Find any decade since the 1960s, and the women have held their own.
They even invaded musical genres which were supposed to be male dominated. Janis Joplin rocked, and by the time the 1980s rolled in women in rock weren’t all that much of a novelty anymore. There was Joan Jett and Pat Benatar, Chrissie Hynde was the leader of the Pretenders, and the Go-Go’s were an all-girl rock group.
2. Racial Diversity.
The US music industry has never really had a problem with racial matters, compared to what was happening to the rest of the nation. There may have been segregation in many states, but the music transcended such laws. African Americans seem to have led the way in just about every major music genre—the blues, jazz, rock n’ roll, and rap. By the time their Caucasian brethren joined in, it only served to make the music more mainstream to the rest of the nation.
Nowadays, diversity is actually embraced. Black and white people can work together, along with Asians and Latinos. Look at the Black Eyed Peas—different genders and different racial profiles all mixed into one group.
3. Religion and tolerance.
Quite a lot of conservative “Christian” groups back in the 1950s rallied against the devil’s music (most notably Jimmy Swaggart, who was the cousin of Jerry Lee Lewis). Nowadays, there is actually a thing called Christian rock, and there’s even Christian metal. But for the most part, no one really cares.
4. Crossing national boundaries.
Foreign groups don’t usually make it big in the US, but that was before the Beatles led the British Invasion back in the 1960s. The 1980s saw a similar movement with the rise of new wave, and today nobody really makes an issue out of it. If you want to see an example of music crossing boundaries, you only need to remember the viral success of Psy and his music video Gangnam Style. His is clearly Asian, he doesn’t dress or dance like an American, and hardly anyone in the US understood the lyrics. Yet his video is the most watched music video on YouTube in History, as it is the first to get 2 billion views.
The second most viewed video on YouTube is Justin Bieber’s Baby at a mere 1 one billion views. And by the way, Bieber’s Canadian.
So far, we’ve only talked about the stars. We are fascinated with them, so we care about their appearance, their cultural origins, and their political and religious beliefs. And for the most part, we accept that the differences mean little in light of our appreciation for the music.
But what about the backup singers and musicians, the producers and the sound technicians? We know so very little about them, and actually that’s a good thing. We don’t care about whether they’re male or female, if they’re white, black, or brown; if they’re Christian or not, or if they’re American or not. And that’s how it should be. All of that is irrelevant because in the end, only the music matters.
Source:
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