Kelsea Ballerini sounds off on poll that pits female country stars against each other

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Kelsea Ballerini is tired of feeling like she and her fellow female country artists are all fighting for the same spot.

The "I Hate Love Songs" singer shared on Instagram a Twitter poll she saw asking which female artist are fans most interested in seeing perform at the upcoming ACM Awards. The tweet made her "really bummed."

"Since I put out my first single over 4 years ago, every interview includes some form of question about the females in country music... or the current lack thereof," Ballerini wrote late Monday night. "So we swim upstream and wear ourselves out trying to be heard and finally see the charts start to mention a few more of our names, the categories recognize a few more of our songs, and even start to cheer each other on."

Ballerini said "something as simple and seemingly harmless" as the poll "sets us back."

"It takes the dozens of talented, determined, hard working, kind women that want to continue the incredible marks on the genre the woman before us have made, and it makes us feel like there’s only one spot available. so then there’s tension. And insecurity," she added.

The newlywed star said that this type of question destroys the "magical bond" between female artists who according to Ballerini, "actually want each other to win."

"It makes me sad because I feel it. Heck, it makes me insecure," the 24-year-old admitted. "It makes me feel tension in a room where there is another girl that is successful. It makes me awkward. It makes me overthink conversations. It makes me assume the worst. Which is actually CRAZY."

The singer said she decided to share her thoughts on this because she doesn't want "the new females in country music to be misrepresented to the fans or the media as the popular girls in high school that pose for photos like were bffs but secretly despise the one that dates the quarterback.

"And more than that, I don’t want US to feel like that. This isn’t mean girls, this is country music. Where you actually CAN sit with us," Ballerini concluded.