Glastonbury 2023; are social media users correct over the lack of female representation this year?

The first announcement for Glastonbury 2023 has been made this morning, with Emily Eavis confirming three headliners in the form of Arctic Monkeys, Elton John’s last live performance in the UK, and Guns ‘n’ Roses making their return to our shores, an additional 51 names included in the first wave of performers set to grace the festival from June 21 2023.

With both acts celebrated in their respective music scenes, the announcement hasn’t been without its detractors, with several users on social media arguing there is a perceived “lack of female representation” after the announcement. Is this true, however, given a quick look at the line-up features incredible musicians such as Alison Goldfrapp, Lizzo and Blondie?

Believe it or not - Peopleworld has dug out our calculators and undertaken some maths to see how much female representation there is at Glastonbury 2023. Looking at solo musicians or bands that have at least a makeup of 50% females, the number is hardly as oppressive as social media are making out.

Of the 54 acts that have already been announced to perform at this year’s event, 24 of them are either female acts or have that percentage of female musicians within a band’s line-up. Want that as an easily digestible percentage? That equals 42.593%, or if you wanted to round it up 43%. That means that nearly half of the Glastonbury 2023 lineup has female artists involved.

This is a lot higher than previous years across all festivals in the United Kingdom, where at one stage the figure of 22% female representation in music festivals was seen as a victory for the industry - though it’s a gender imbalance that can certainly be improved.

Perhaps it is the fact that the headline acts of the festival are all men which have perturbed social media users. Though many may forget that in 2022, Billie Eilish was a headliner on the illustrious Pyramid Stage, Megan Thee Stallion headlined The Other Stage and Little Simz continued her prolific 2022 headlining the West Holts stage.

However, if we are going to split hairs and look at the Pyramid Stage as the most definitive means of headlining Glastonbury Festival, we kind of have to agree somewhat with the court of public opinion. Despite the history of all three headliners throughout the annals of music, maybe including Lizzo as a headliner instead of Guns ‘n’ Roses might have settled some annoyed festival-goers. Even though, no doubt, they’ll end up going and turning Glastonbury into another sell-out success.