This is not women vs a man. This is about how women are held to impossible standards in the music industry from beginning to end.
It doesn’t matter if she’s older, young, very young, pregnant, if she just went through an accident, if she has trauma — none of it matters. There are never any excuses for women. They are always expected to give too much.
And even then, it’s still not enough. There will always be something people say she lacked: energy, charisma, stage presence, vocals, you name it because even if she’s flying across the stage, people will still find a flaw.
And for women, there’s no such thing as “maybe it just wasn’t her day” or “maybe something happened.” That grace does not exist. Instead, they get labeled as lazy or mediocre, and suddenly the audience starts acting like they were robbed and demanding their money back but right now they act like they paid to watch the eighth wonder of the world.
If Madonna — someone who has proven herself over and over again for decades — did a show like that, everyone knows she would be dragged through the mud. There would be no excuses about her past achievements, no “she already proved herself” narrative. It simply wouldn’t apply.
And people keep saying that newer female artists need to “prove themselves,” but that argument doesn’t even hold up. Because even when women have already proven themselves, they still don’t get the same grace.
Look at Beyoncé. When she started the Renaissance Tour, people were already saying she wasn’t the same, that she didn’t have the same energy — even though she was literally delivering everything: choreography, vocals, stage presence. Of course it’s not going to look exactly the same as years ago — time passes — but she was still giving a full, high-level performance.
And at Coachella. She delivered one of the most iconic performances ever — to the point people literally call it “Beychella” — with a massive production, multiple elements, and total control of the stage. She got paid millions for that, and she gave a show that matched it.
Meanwhile, you have situations where a man gets paid even more, goes on stage, barely puts effort, sings over tracks, and people still defend it — saying he’s older, that he’s a father, that he already proved himself, that he’s just “connecting with the audience.”
And what’s even worse is comparing that to Sabrina who performed a day before, delivering a full show: multiple stage setups, outfit changes, choreography, vocals, even leaving in a car — a complete performance — and people still call it boring. That’s honestly disrespectful.
And then they say that his lack of effort was because he wanted to “connect with the audience.” I’m sorry, but that’s not an artistic style — that’s just not putting in effort and knowing people will excuse it.
Then they bring up the excuse that “he already did all of that when he was younger”. But again, that logic never apply to women. Because if a woman with an equal or even bigger career did a show like that today, it would immediately overshadow her entire legacy. There would be no understanding, no grace, no “she already proved herself.”
People also say “he changed his style, he’s more chill now, it’s about connection.” But since when are women allowed to do that? Since when can a female artist just go on stage, do the bare minimum, and still be respected as an artist?
Because even when women do strip things down, they still get criticized. Look at Miley Cyrus — she’s done performances where it’s just her, a microphone, and a band and she still commands the entire crowd with her presence alone. And people STILL call her lazy or say the show wasn’t well planned.
And then people say, “look at Adele, she just sings, no outfit changes, nothing, and she doesn’t get criticized.” As if she doesn’t get criticized too. And on top of that, Adele has never given a mediocre show.
Her performances may be focused on vocals, but they are still organized, rehearsed, and well-executed. She still includes elements like staging, pyrotechnics, confetti — it’s intentional. She has never gone on stage and delivered something careless like that.
So no, this is not women vs a man. This is about the blatant misogyny and double standard people have towards women in the music industry.
Women are expected to be perfect at every stage of their careers, under any circumstance, and even then it’s still not enough.
Because today it’s one man, yesterday it was another, and tomorrow it will be someone else — a man doing nothing extraordinary and still getting more praise than a woman who gives everything.
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