The Destiny of Girl Groups

BY AVNI MISHRA '23

In the words of the queen herself, “Bey is back and [she’s] sleepin' real good at night,” and why wouldn’t she? The 2-time Super Bowl performer and 32-time Grammy winner Beyonce has broken records as the first woman to have 20 top 10 hits on Billboard. But as her fame grows, it has overshadowed her membership of a girl group named Destiny’s Child. The group debuted in 1997, releasing culturally iconic tracks (some of which are falsely attributed to Beyonce’s solo career) such as “Say My Name” and “Survivor.” However, the destiny of Destiny’s Child is not as glamorous as their career. Even other popular boy groups of the time, like NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys, are more recognizable today. This trend of girl groups finding less mainstream success than their male counterparts is pertinent in the entertainment industry, and reveals a deeper truth: because of misogynistic societal pressures, girl groups in the music industry are destined to lower popularity.

One large reason for the popularity gap lies in bands’ target demographic: teenage girls. In a majority heterosexual society, physically attractive boy group members often snag the attention of fangirls. With a parallel demographic of boys discouraged to indulge in similar enjoyment, girl groups do not have a fan base willing to devote time in streaming songs, money in buying albums, and dedication to stick around for long. So, Instead of marketing themselves as objects of attraction, girl groups are marketed as role models that girls can look up to. Because of this, the standard for girl groups tends to be far higher than boy groups: they are expected to write their own music, play their own instruments, win more awards, and keep their records squeaky clean. Without dedicated fan bases to proactively defend them, female members find themselves met with more criticism than male group members for similar scandals.

But when we examine the larger picture, we can see that this double standard lies in deep rooted sexist conventions. The reason why teenage boys are so averse to celebrity culture is because hobbies associated with girls are deemed immature and childish. Boys, in an attempt to separate themselves from this presumption, avoid these activities at all costs. Furthermore, the standards and pressure girl groups are placed under are heightened by the taboo against successful women. The Runaways, a popular all-girls rock band of the 70s, were attacked with vicious sexist remarks in the press at the height of their career, calling them disparaging names simply for occupying male-dominated spaces. While the industry has come a long way from outright harassing and belittling women, systems of misogyny are difficult to erase entirely, significantly decreasing the cultural significance, or destiny, of many talented women. 

We can still see its impact to this day, with bands like Fifth Harmony and Little Mix achieving half the cultural significance of One Direction, despite their similar origins. One way to stop this cycle is to shift societal attitudes towards girl’s hobbies and uplift them in society. By de-stigmatizing being a fan of celebrities, we both dissolve the association between girls and immaturity while also inviting more non-women to engage with girl groups and their content. One more practice we should prioritize is holding boy groups to the same standards as we hold girl groups. There is no justification for the way we place additional pressure on women in the music industry that men are absolved from. Instead, we must be more open to criticize boy groups without justifying their actions through their personal appeal.