Hayley Williams And Wet Leg Talk Misogyny In Music
Hayley Williams of Paramore and Wet Leg have spoken about the problems facing women in music on a new podcast.
Speaking to Williams on the Face-To-Face podcast from The Face magazine, Wet Leg lead vocalist Teasdale reflected, “I think for us one of the hardest or most irritating things about being women is probably just the stupid comments on the internet like, ‘Oh she’s holding that guitar but she’s not actually playing it.’”
She continued, “Like, for example, when I am not using my guitar but then I need to play it in the chorus or something, there will always be a comment being like, ‘Girls shouldn’t play guitar, women shouldn’t play guitar,’ and it’s just like… it’s so dated but it’s still there! And I just hate it so much. It’s so frustrating.”
Hayley Williams went on to speak of the sexism she’s faced in her own guitar-playing career. revealing that she was physically shaking while she played the guitar on her 2020 Tiny Desk concert because she knew her playing would come under sexist scrutiny online.
“I don’t even play guitar on stage, I don’t even dare,” she admitted. “Because I love to play guitar but I don’t know if I could handle… man. I feel you so hard.”
“I just hate that people even need to point it out,” she said. “I don’t even really think about my gender at all, when we play the music especially. It’s just not part of the picture. I’m trying to lean into femininity and empower that part of myself more in this era of my career, but do you ever get on stage and feel ‘other’? You feel like this alien thing that’s powerful and beautiful.”
Paramore upcoming 2023 tour dates
February
6 Nashville – The Grand Ole Opry
March
2 Arena Peru, Lima, Peru
5 Movistar Arena, Santiago, Chile
7 Movistar Arena, Buenos Aires, Argentina
9 Qualistage, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
11 Centro Esportivo Tietre, Sao Paolo, Brazil
14 TBA, Bogota, Colombia.
April
13 – Dublin, 3Arena
15 – Cardiff, International Arena
17 – Glasgow, OVO Hydro
18 – Manchester, AO Arena
20 – London, O2 Arena
22 – Birmingham, Utilita Arena
May
23 Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center *x
25 Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena *x
27 Atlantic City, NJ – Adjacent Music Festival
30 New York, NY – Madison Square Garden *x
June
2 Washington, D.C. – Capital One Arena *x
4 Cleveland, OH – Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse *x
5 Indianapolis, IN – Gainbridge Fieldhouse *x
7 Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena *x
8 Toronto, Ontario – Scotiabank Arena *x
10 Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center *x
11 Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paint Arena *x
13 Orlando, FL – Amway Center *x
14 Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live *x
July
6 New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center +o
8 Fort Worth, TX – Dickies Arena +o
9 Austin, TX – Moody Center +o
11 Houston, TX – Toyota Center +o
13 Denver, CO – Ball Arena +o
16 San Diego, CA – Viejas Arena +
19 Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum +
22 San Francisco, CA – Chase Center +
24 Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena +o
25 Portland, OR – Veterans Memorial Coliseum +o
27 Salt Lake City, UT – Vivint Arena +o
29 Tulsa, OK – BOK Center +o
30 St. Louis, MO – Enterprise Center +o
August
2 Saint Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center +o
* with Bloc Party
+ with Foals
o with The Linda Lindas
x with Genesis Owusu