What do people here make of the idea behind the NPR list in the first place? On the one hand I can see the argument that “women in music” lists promotes the idea of segregating music made by women, creating a separate “canon” which many see as second best to the “real canon” of music written by men.
But as someone who has been looking to redress the relative lack of music by women in my listening from before the 90s I’m finding it (and lists like it) very useful in finding amazing records that I rarely see mentioned elsewhere.
The ideal would be that all “100 greatest” lists and such would naturally have equal representation, thus reinforcing the truth that women are, and always have been, as good at making music. But in the current prejudiced music world with male-dominated lists I don’t think that having these kind of lists (which can highlight wrongly overlooked music to people who might otherwise miss them) are necessarily a bad thing if done with a genuine respect and presented as every bit as equal.
I haven’t read the blurb around NPR’s list so maybe they aren’t doing this at all.
Someone help me here
