'Have You Ever Heard Of Women?' Outrage At The Reading And Leeds Line Up

Another festival announcement, another step back in gender equality for the music industry..

*Reading and Leeds Festival* revealed its line up this morning, immediately drawing sharp criticism for its lack of gender diversity.

Only 20 female-identifying acts are due to perform, out of the 90+ that have been announced. Music writer *Lucy McCourt *cleverly removed all the male-identifying acts from the bill, serving as a visual reminder of the shocking scarcity of women.



The @OfficialRandL lineup with the men removed. Where are all the women aye? #readingfestival #leedsfestival pic.twitter.com/B70Y97IAWZ

— Lucy  (@lucy_mccourt) February 11, 2020

"Have you ever heard of women?" one angry onlooker addressed to the festival's Twitter account. A second adding, "Women don't exist", while a third used *Beyonce *lyrics to make the point: "Who runs the world? Men."

*Roisin O’Connor*, Music Correspondent at the Independent pointed out that the headline slot at the festival has historically been abysmal when it comes to gender equality: “I make that one female headliner in 20 years (Paramore, 2014 - co-headlined with QOTSA) for Reading + Leeds,” she tweeted.



I make that one female headliner in 20 years (Paramore, 2014 - co-headlined with QOTSA) for Reading + Leeds.

— Roisin O'Connor (@Roisin_OConnor) February 11, 2020

“Biffy Clyro, Foo Fighters, Muse, Kasabian, Guns N Roses, Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, Kings of Leon, Rage Against the Machine, Eminem, Blink-182 and Fall Out Boy have all headlined more times than there have been women headliners in two decades.”

The Guardian’s Deputy Music Editor *Laura Snapes *pulled no punches, saying “The whole thing can fuck off”, while also laying some of the responsibility at the feet of male acts who seemingly do little or nothing to demand better representation at the festivals they play.



The whole thing can fuck off. Kids deserve better and they know it. And every male act playing that festival who isn’t using their power to demand better representation on bills should take a long hard look at themselves too.

— Laura Snapes (@laurasnapes) February 11, 2020

Meanwhile, *Alexandra Pollard*, Deputy Culture Editor at the Independent,  pointed to an interview she did five years ago with Melvin Benn -  the Managing Director of Festival Republic, behind Reading and Leeds as well as Latitude, Download, Wireless, V Festival and overseas events - in which he claimed: “The idea that female bands are sidelined at festivals is wrong.” The Reading and Leeds line up would beg to differ.



It's been five years now since Melvin Benn said this to me. I'm bored and tired. pic.twitter.com/iz2bMFtvB4

— Alexandra Pollard (@alexjpollard) February 11, 2020

A similar issue was *raised last year* at the announcement of TRNSMT’s lineup.  Of the 13 acts booked to perform in 2020, just two were women, *Rita Ora* and *Little Simz.* This all comes despite efforts from the likes of *PRS Foundation* and its Keychange initiative - encouraging festivals and music organisations to achieve a 50:50 gender balance by 2022 - and the question still remains unanswered: just what will it actually take for festivals to acheieve gender diversity?

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