We all love music and we all have our own opinions on certain genres and artists. However, something that we can all agree on is the unfair comparisons that exist for women in the industry; a constant attempt to pit one woman against another.

Some well-known cases of comparison are Nicki vs. Cardi or the constant comparison between Ariana and Mariah. Yes, it is perfectly fine to like one artist over another, but to constantly create tension between artists is getting old. This work is reflected in their music as well as their overall achievement. It is disrespectful to constantly pit newcomers against OG’s. It creates unnecessary animosity between artists. The main issue is that when a so called “beef” starts up, for no apparent reason,  fans start to pick sides. All this does is pit women against one another, which is something that we simply see too much of in society already. This is why we don’t need it in the entertainment industry, as well.

This doesn’t only happen to women. Men in the music industry are compared and pitted against one another as well, but  they handle it differently. They might put out a few disses to each other, but then they – and all of us – move on from it. The public doesn’t provoke male beefs the same way. Take Drake and Meek Mill for example. In 2015, their beef gained a lot of attention, but it ended fairly recently, and the two appear to be closer than ever. From performing together to making music videos together, it’s like they have been cool for years. This doesn’t happen with female artists. Why? Because people get entertainment from watching girls fight with each other.

Don’t get me wrong, as a young woman myself, I am all for female empowerment. However, I wish women in the entertainment industry operated more like the men do. The catty drama that seems to dog them is unnecessary. It seems to be the result of society feeding both of their egos to, it seems, further the issue and fuel the flames of discord. No one ever wants to admit that they are wrong. Drake and Meek are happily making music together, and to be honest I don’t see Cardi and Nicki doing that in the years to come. Instead they are throwing shoes at each other. At some point, the lines have to be drawn.

It’s not only individual comparisons that occur, though. This same drama can affect girls within a girl group. It comes from so called “fans” picking who their favorite girl is, and making it seem like they are the ones who carry the group. The girl group that immediately comes to mind is 5th Harmony. They broke up not too long ago after one of the group members, Camila Cabello, left to pursue a solo career. Camilla was the girl who always had the spotlight on her and always seemed isolated from the group, so her departure was not a big surprise. When she announced that she was going solo, no one was surprised. Sure, she probably just outgrew the group, but the fact that everyone always exalted her didn’t make it any better. People were either talking bad about her, or talking bad about the rest of the group. And this is all because fans choose sides and that brings upon unnecessary pettiness.

Men don’t have to deal with this. There are a million male rappers, and these days most of them sound the same. But no one seems to care. We listen to them all with no problem. However, when there is a woman with a slight similarity to another, people lose their minds. I’m tired of it. Just let people make their music as they please.