As many of you may know, the 2021 Video Music Awards took place on September 12th. Artists, such as Chlöe and Lil Nas X, put on amazing performances while those attending the show and those watching at home waited anxiously to find out this year’s winners.
Just like every award show across the spectrum of entertainment, we may feel disappointed at the winners of certain awards. Sometimes our favorite artists or music videos may not win, but other times, it’s the specific person who wins the award that leaves us upset.
I felt the latter sense of disappointment when looking at who won the award for “Artist of the Year” at this year’s VMAs; which is one of the most sought-after awards of the night.
Ariana Grande, Doja Cat, Justin Bieber, Megan Thee Stallion, Olivia Rodrigo, and Taylor Swift were all nominated for this highly anticipated award. When looking at this extremely talented list of artists in the running, you can not help but notice that this category is dominated by women.
This alone is a big deal because women, especially women of color, tend to not only be overlooked at award shows, but they also usually do not win due to misogyny and racism even though they are just as talented as their male counterparts.
The music by the women nominated for the award this year all had great success and have made massive impacts on society. For example, Olivia Rodrigo’s album “Sour” had eight songs in Billboard’s top ten song chart, breaking the record for the highest number of songs in the top ten by a woman; which was a record previously held by Taylor Swift, another nominee for the same award.
Considering that multiple women, including women of color, were nominated for this category, there were nearly no doubts that a woman would win this award. However, to my surprise and to many others, Justin Bieber pulled out the win.
It’s important to note that Justin Bieber is a talented artist, and his skills and career should not be discredited. However, I am left questioning whether he actually deserved this award or if we are witnessing a man beat five other women simply because he is a man.
This is a valid question to raise as we constantly see women get undermined in the entertainment industry. The Oscars, for example, have been running for 93 years and this year was the first time two women were nominated for “Best Director”; meaning only seven women have ever been nominated for this male-dominated category. This is not a coincidence, as we have seen this mistreatment time and time again.
In situations such as these, some may argue that the women who lost did so because they are not as talented as the male nominees. As previously stated, that is simply not the case with the 2021 VMAs. These women are all talented artists that were just as deserving of the award.
With this in mind, we are left wondering whether this was yet another instance of misogyny in the entertainment world. Although loads of progress have been made for women in this field, they are constantly being robbed of their well-earned recognition, and I feel as though the result of this award at the VMAs is one of these instances.
What we can do to ensure that women do not keep getting pushed aside in the entertainment industry is to keep on supporting them. Continue listening to their music, watching their movies, and interacting with their content!