Scenen är din? En intervjustudie om åtta göteborgsmusikers relation till scenen över tid.

Abstract

The stage is yours? Interviews about eight Gothenburg based musicians’ relationships to the stage over time. The purpose of the study was to explore factors behind the gender segregation visible in the world of popular music, and if inequality increases with age. The study was based on eight interviews with musicians, four women and four men, who were active in the nineties. Out of the participants, all women have stopped playing in bands while all the men still are active, and three of four men still performs live on stage. This is in line with earlier research suggesting that gender segregation is reinforced with age. The participants´ experiences of this age-gender intersection is analyzed using theoretical concepts such as ageism and the normative gaze that affects men and women in different ways. The results suggest that the women experienced the gaze in a scrutinizing way that created a demand for prestation, which made continued performing challenging. For the men, the gaze was experienced as recognition, that decreased with age, but still did not discourage musical practice.