The Obstacles for Women Who 'Step Up' in Music
The Recording Academy’s president suggested a lack of female ambition explains the gender gap at the Grammys. The stories of #MeToo provide a different explanation.
Dealing with sexual harassment by Russell Simmons “was a full-time job,” Drew Dixon, a former executive at the record company Def Jam, recently. Simmons, the label boss, would so frequently expose himself to Dixon, she alleged, that she gave a spare key to her office to another coworker so that they could intervene whenever Simmons entered her workspace and unzipped. “It was exhausting,” she said. “It was like making a record while swimming in rough seas.” Still, she scored a huge hit by co-producing the 1995 soundtrack for . Shortly afterwards, she said, Simmons raped her. (Simmons has apologized for generally mistreating women and has stepped down from his companies, but denies raping anyone.)
