A British music festival’s women problem is hidden in plain sight on its promotional poster. Wireless shared the lineup for its three-day July shindig in Finsbury Park, London, to Twitter on Monday.
But as journalist Luke Bailey noticed, only three of the 40-odd acts are female.
Bailey edited the names of the male artists out of the lineup to prove his point. British pop star Lily Allen later shared his handiwork to Twitter.
“The struggle is real,” Allen captioned the post, which has now gone viral.
Fellow British singer Ellie Goulding was among people on Twitter who reacted negatively to the festival poster:
Wireless ― which in its press release boasts of bringing “the biggest names in hip-hop, grime and rap music” to its stage ― did not immediately return HuffPost’s request for comment.
The poster says more acts are “to be announced” later, and that may well include more female artists. British singer Ray BLK revealed via Twitter on Wednesday that she’d turned down the chance to perform.
The issue of women being underrepresented on stage at music festivals is hardly new.
Wireless could begin by approaching these artists, as Allen later suggested:
