Three questions to Marthe Vassalo, a great voice in current Breton music.
The figures collected by the Tamm Kreiz Association, an organization that works to promote the world of fest-noz, show that only 13 to 17% of women occupy the stage, two-thirds of whom are singers, or 6 to 7% of instrumentalists. Is this environment so complicated for women?
The music scene in general is macho. Breton music is no exception to the rule. His story just adds a few extra inflections. I have always been aware of the unequal treatment between men and women, but at 25, you are at the start of your life and you think that the world will evolve at the same time as you. When we get older, we realize that things move very slowly.
What explains this lack of representation of women in Breton music?
It is difficult, almost incongruous for young women to choose to become professional in the field of music. First, because stereotypes still prevail. From a boy who plays well, we will say that he has a career ahead of him. Of a girl who plays well, we will say that she plays well. But the determining factor is that of the perception of parenthood and particularly of motherhood. Having children is still a handicap in our society. And not just during pregnancy or the baby’s first year, but also upstream and downstream. We naturally induce in the orientation of the girls the fact that they will become mothers and will have to put their career on hold. And it’s not wrong. Because, concretely, it is still very complicated to manage both.
What solutions are possible?
I am in favor of setting achievable quotas for obtaining grants, for example. Several festivals have proven that when you look for talented women, you find them. So they exist. But they are oriented more towards teaching, or are mainly absorbed by amateurism. On the other hand, I think that we must continue to speak out, to exchange, both in the private sphere and in public discourse. It is not a question of systematically denouncing the programmers, but of seeing the development of a global awareness.
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