A gender issue?

Last week's issue marking International Women's Day attracted a huge amount of comment from readers on the Irish Timesblogs; here's a selection of what was said

The Women Who Rock Our World –

great list, especially Dusty, Tina, Lauryn, PJ, Chrissie for me! And speaking of list omissions – keenly aware that I may be shouted down here – but Madonna anyone? – JK

Madonna rocked my world when I was 3 … the first album I ever owned was True Blue i still listen to it from time to time. Patsy Cline was also a voice from my youth, she sang her sorrows so beautifully… and of course the lovely ladies from Abba, they were my childhood heroes. – caroline

I don't recall a similar all- man edition on international men's day? – Joe

Surely female artists are more than capable of holding their own without having a “special” issue? This makes it look as if female acts need a special dig out because of their gender. Will we be getting an all-black or all-Asian or all-male or all-Irish Ticket next week?

– Peter McMahon

Not so sure about this, girls. I always thought us women should be able to compete without recourse to special treatment or positive discrimination. – Sadie

When I was growing up there were a few feisty Irish ladies of note – Gay Woods from Auto da Fe, Leslie Dowdall from In Tua Nua ... One of my first radio memories is hearing Crystal Gayle singing Brown Eyes Blueand of course I've loved Dolly P with a passion from an early age ... I agree that Madonna should also be on the list and Cyndi Lauper – it's fantastic that there are so many women to choose from. Hello, it's International Women's Day - if we can't make a bit of a song and dance about how fab we are today, when can we? – Lorelei

Wimmin? sure what do they know? – RH

I agree that it seems patronising more than anything else to create a special female issue; equality should mean a significant contribution from women without having to use positive discrimination. But that’s in the ideal world. The reality is that we are not there yet, and an issue devoted to women around International Women’s Day might jar a few mindsets.

– conor

Ok, so female isn't a genre, and it's shouldn't be necessary to give women special treatment, but the truth is, we are nowhere near acheiving equality. Women are still sidelined... Until we live in a world where this is no longer an issue, it IS necessary to celebrate what women have accomplished, whether it's in the music industry or anywhere else. I say, nice one! – Jenny

If I was a woman I’d find it patronising, I reckon.

– Stone Throwing Youths

I don’t get why there’s a bit of a furore about there being a women’s issue – it’s a bit of fun and made for some good reading on a Friday morning. Really, why would anyone be getting in a twist over it? I enjoyed it!

– Catherine

Have I died and gone back to the 1970s or something? I really thought feminism had moved on from such terrible ideas as a "special women's issue". I also know that coverage and attention should be down to the MUSIC and MOVIES that are made and NOT someone's gender. Please revert to the normal Ticket next week. – Susan

The whole enterprise is overkill. Every new single and every non-classical album is by a female act. Three of the four classical discs are female artists, and the fourth is the work of a female composer... Albums like Blue and The Kick Inside shouldn’t be regarded as “Great Albums by Women”, but simply as great albums.

– redframewhitelight

I find some of the negativity a bit weird. It’s just a themed edition. Magazines do it all the time. 50% of the population are women. 50% of the people who listen to music and go to movies are women. Loads of great music is by women. So why not represent International Women’s Day in this way? Nobody complains when during the normal course of events, most of Ticket’s writers are men. It’s just one day, not a feminist coup.

– Patrick

I have mixed feelings about this. I agree that women are nowhere near equality, in music or other fields, and actually think in Ireland we give this issue amazingly little substantial discussion, so it is no harm to shine a spotlight on that. However, I'm not sure if a whole issue was a superb editorial choice either. – Neasa

John Waters is gonna have a canary. – Major Alfonso

How in God's name are Janis Joplin and Nina Simone not mentioned? With the possible inclusion of Amy Winehouse as close modern counterpart. And no i am not that old – Boozy

Pfft, the wimmin’ folk will want the vote next. Seriously, an enjoyable issue. Kudos.

– Declan Cashin

I know I’m coming from a specific “side”, but I love this idea. It’s a celebration of women – there’s nothing tokenistic or patronising about it. It’s international women’s day (on Monday), so here we have a women’s issue – simple as.

– Rosemary Mac Cabe

As a female music-maker, I am hugely insulted by this issue. Are you saying that I need a special issue to compete with The Boys? Next week: Nell McCafferty reviews the singles?– Maeve

I'm totally taken aback by the amount of vitriol shown towards this issue of The Ticket. Reading about female musicians inspires me, and I looked on this issue as a way of being inspired. Why not be inspired by other women? Do people realise that we don't live in an 'equal' world? – sweetoblivion

I don’t get why people are being so precious about all of this. It’s a celebration of female artists on the weekend of International Women’s Day. Hardly a controversial editorial decision. I found it an enjoyable read, and a great way to mark IWD weekend.

– UnaMullally

Hope we see an event and an Irish Times article about International Men's Day on November 19 – Paul

I for one very much enjoyed Ms Tara Brady's "distaff" offering entitled "Critical Mass" (re the sidelining of women by the powers that be in Hollywood in modern times). Ms Brady delivers an essay well deserving of a high First. A pleasure to read. – A Weaver

No Nico, no Patti Smith, no Tori Amos, no Bat For Lashes??? – pip

I really enjoyed the issue and thought it was great to have something concrete to mark International Women’s Day; it also made a change to read articles about music rather than just about women’s contributions to politics, which a lot of other media sources were running.

My husband (a huge music fan) bought the issue, read it, commented on a couple of the articles, but didn’t seem to have any problem with the fact that it was mainly by and about women – it was good music journalism about good music, and that’s what counts, surely?

– badbirdwatcher

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