It was a star-studded night at the 2018 Grammys for sure, but there was one thing many people said was lacking -- women taking home major awards.
Out of all the major categories, only one woman won this year: Alessia Cara for best new artist.
Bruno Mars took home the top award of the night for album of the year, with Ed Sheeran, Kendrick Lamar, Chris Stapleton and others taking home awards for best performances and albums.
Read: Grammy Awards 2018: Bruno Mars beats out Jay-Z for album of the year Related: R&B star Janelle Monae brings Time's Up movement to GrammysAfter the show, Recording Academy president Neil Portnow sounded off about the male-dominated night.
"I think it has to begin with women who have the creativity in their hearts and their souls —- who want to be musicians, who want to be engineers, who want to be producers, who want to be part of the industry on an executive level —- to step up, because I think they would be welcome," Portnow said backstage, according to USA Today.
Many fans weren't happy with Portnow's comment or the lack of women taking home trophies, and the hashtag "GrammysSoMale" began to trend. All of this after a night that featured Janelle Monáe's powerful speech about the Time's Up movement and artists wearing white roses on the red carpet to support gender equality.
I loved the diversity of the #Grammys but was disappointed at the lack of women performers and the lack of women nominees and winners. If this statistic is accurate it shows how much work there is to do "of 899 nominees 9% were women" Not OK #GrammysSoMale pic.twitter.com/cFFdT9jIgq
— Tom D'Angora (@TomDangora) January 29, 2018
This Grammy voter would like to state for the record that Neil Portnow doesn't speak for me, nor any of my industry friends that I'm aware of. #GrammysSoMale
— Daniel Holter (@danielholter) January 29, 2018
Pretty sure all the other (female) Best Pop Solo performance nominees had better lyrics than “Oh I Oh I Oh I Oh I I’m in love with your body” #Grammys2018 #GrammysSoMale
— Ari Aberin (@ariadneaberin) January 29, 2018
When Ed Sheeran's song about being horny for a woman's body wins over songs about empowerment like Lady Gaga's and Kesha's, that's how you know the music industry flavors men over women..#GrammysSoMale
— Lauren Christine ?? (@thatLCgirl) January 29, 2018
Why is gender issues STILL a problem in 2018? We’re not in the 20th century anymore #GrammysSoMale
— Felix Saenz (@ToonsJazzLover) January 29, 2018
#GrammysSoMale
— Simone ?? (@BCinnamon6) January 29, 2018
So not even one female won a Grammy this year ? pic.twitter.com/3q8aqRUGSA
A study from USC Annenberg also made the rounds on social media, with statistics citing the lack of gender diversity in music.
Some of the stats referenced by critics of the Grammys included a 3.5 to 1 ratio of men to women in popular music and women representing just 11.4 percent of songwriters in 2017.
While many took to social to slam the awards for recognizing mostly men this year, some played devil's advocate and brought up past years when women dominated the Grammys.
#GrammysSoMale. Why is this trending? I have no clue but I heard these were awards for the talented, so am I wrong? Equal rights don't mean equal rewards for skill that wasn't displayed. Everyone had a chance so why was there complaining?
— LolzPikachuXD (@TheHamsterLolz) January 29, 2018
#GrammysSoMale This hashtag proves how willful ignorance works when the two previous years women like Adele, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift SWEPT the grammys and women have dominated in the win categories historically... but, you know they have to find ways to go after Men Of Color.
— News Clinic (@newsclinicpress) January 29, 2018
#GrammysSoMale so, you're telling me ANYONE was going to compete with Bruno Mars and Kendrick Lamar this year? K... Let's find something new to complain about now.
— OpThomas Prime (@ImRealGoode) January 29, 2018
