The gender neutral Brit Awards were a triumph – a penny for your thoughts, Nadine Dorries

There is much work still to be done in creating a society that embraces all genders, but the Brit Awards have made a stride in the right direction

Last night’s Brit Awards saw female artists and female-fronted acts dominate, sweeping a stunning 10 wins out of 15 categories. Adele was the night’s big winner (of course), picking up awards for artist of the year, song of the year and album of the year.

London-born rapper Little Simz was named best new artist, and brought her mum with her on stage to receive the award. Wolf Alice took home best British group, Holly Humberstone bagged the rising star award, and Olivia Rodrigo received best international song for her angsty and addictive banger “Good 4 U”. Dua Lipa was named best pop/R&B act, Becky Hill best dance act and Billie Eilish best international artist.

Powerhouse female artists were rightly celebrated – and culture secretary Nadine Dorries was proved wrong. This was the first year of the Brits free from gendered categories, something Dorries had expressed concerns about when the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) announced last November that they would  be ditching male/female categories in favour of making the awards “as inclusive and as relevant as possible”.

Dorries described this as a “sad decision” and said: “My concern would be that women were not fairly represented moving forward.” Happily, this year’s awards proved Dorries’ fears unfounded. The BPI’s decision wasn’t sad; it was respectful, fitting and joyous.

The BPI made the move away from traditional male/female awards categories and towards a ceremony that is more gender neutral after Sam Smith’s criticism of the 2021 awards. Smith, who identifies as non-binary, said: “I look forward to a time where awards shows can be reflective of the society we live in.”

By acting on the issue Smith raised, the BPI have brought their annual awards into the present. Categories that only recognise two genders – male and female – are outdated and exclude artists who don’t fit into this binary. Gender identity is part of a spectrum, just as sexuality is, and may not remain fixed for a person’s lifetime. Non-binary, genderqueer, gender-fluid, gender-expansive and agender folks should not be either shut out of awards categories or shoehorned into a gendered category that doesn’t fit their identity.

Having categories specifically for female artists was perhaps more helpful when male artists picked up the vast majority of nominations and dominated awards ceremonies. This year’s winners show that this is no longer the case for the Brit Awards.

2021 saw female artists top the lists of music giants, with Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” heading Billboard as their most popular song of the year. In their yearly round-up, Spotify identified Olivia Rodrigo’s “drivers license” as the most streamed song from 1 January to 27 November 2021, and her album Sour was the most streamed album globally.

To keep up to speed with all the latest opinions and comment, sign up to our free weekly Voices Dispatches newsletter by clicking here

We’ve come quite a way since the Brit Awards of 2007, for example, where male artists and male-fronted (and vastly white) acts bagged all the big awards in non-gendered categories, including British album of the year (Arctic Monkeys), British single of the year (Take That), best British group (Arctic Monkeys), best British live act (Muse), British breakthrough act (The Fratellis), best international group and album (The Killers), and international breakthrough act (Orson). Oasis won the award for outstanding contribution to music. The only categories won by female acts were the gender specific ones.

Fifteen years on, male artists are no longer the only show in town. And that’s a very good thing.

To truly promote inclusion and honour the diversity of our society, a binary approach to gender is unhelpful. The broad spectrum of gender is something to be celebrated, allowing people to live their most authentic lives and be recognised for who they are. Our cultural awareness of different genders is growing, helped along by celebrities like Sam Smith, Olly Alexander, Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness and Amandla Stenberg embracing identities outside of the two-gender binary.

There is much work still to be done in creating a society that embraces all genders, but the Brit Awards have made a stride in the right direction. Oh, and I’m always pleased when Nadine Dorries turns out to be wrong.