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 Forum index » Discussion » Diversity in electro-music
Gender equality in electro
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StephenGiles



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PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2007 9:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Typical USAians. Goodbye, I going back to the real world in DIY synth.
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2007 9:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

StephenGiles wrote:
Typical USAians. Goodbye, I going back to the real world in DIY synth.


If you came from there, no wonder so many from SDIY are coming here. Rolling Eyes

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bbinkovitz



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PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2007 9:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

stringtapper wrote:
Sure, I'll ask it again.
Is gender equality in EM a problem?


when worded that way, that's a really difficult question to answer.

i'd say it's not so much of a problem in itself that there are fewer women than men in electro, but it raises a flag because it could be a symptom of an underlying problem. figuring out what the underlying cause is, and whether it constitutes a "problem", is a complicated and muddy process.

Quote:

The reason I ask is that many others "came to your rescue" when I responded to your comment about having anxiety about the fact that the field is male-dominated. When the others chimed in it suddenly became a lesson in interpersonal communication rather than about what the topic of the thread is.


yes, howard's post was very profound and useful, and so i think it changed the course of the conversation.

i don't think it completely derailed the conversation, though, because i think his observations about communication issues as a type of culture shock between different groups of people (men and women in his example) are very relevant to the "problem" of electro-music gender equality, and suggest that communication styles may be a large part of what directs people towards or away from various communities and interests (like EM for example).

Quote:

So if this issue causes you anxiety doesn't that imply that there is a problem that needs to be solved? Doesn't the very premise of this thread imply that there is a problem that needs to be solved?


i think it was intended more as "is there a problem and if so let's solve it" than "i found a problem and i need it solved".

Quote:

There were some other things, but you can go through and read them if you want.


which exact post is this? i don't want to ignore any important issues.

also, sometimes i don't respond to some things right away even if i find them good, thought-provoking statements because i've been replying so much already and i want to stand back and listen sometimes, and not stifle dialogue by imposing too much of my own opinion.
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2007 10:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

stringtapper wrote:
Sure, I'll ask it again.

Is gender equality in EM a problem?


Yes, it is a problem. I would hope it is primarily inherited from society in general, but I'm certainly not ruling out that there might be causes herein, and in that I include myself.

Think about this. Someone comes as a quest in your home and says they don't feel comfortable. Do you tell them what is wrong with them and what that should do? Or do you acknowledge their feelings and ask is their anything you can do to make them feel more comfortable?

One thing about a community - its not just about common interests, it's about how we treat each other - interpersonal relationships are certainly important. If this is not addressed and discussed, then our community will descend to the lowest common denominator.

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stringtapper



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PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2007 10:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

stringtapper wrote:
bbinkovitz wrote:
Kassen wrote:
That's sad but not something for which EM as a site can be blamed.


i'm sad that people are getting the impression that i'm "blaming" EM for not being totally immune to the deplorable tendencies of a larger sexist society. as far as i know, every single man, woman, and other sentient being in the entire worldwide community of electronic musicians is open-minded and welcoming to every single other sentient being interested in electronic music. my issue is that that apparently isn't enough, judging from the pathetic numbers of female electronic musicians. so a conscious effort must be organized. which is what is happening here. i see this forum as a team of people all interested in discussing the same troubling trend, not as an attack on everybody else.


But why is it troubling? Is it because you would like more women to be able to talk with at conferences or something? Someone else in this or one of the other threads mentioned that it might be beneficial to try to figure out why there are less women in electro-music. I think that's where you have to start. Maybe many women aren't interested in it. If you want to get more women interested in it then that's a fine goal, but to say that more women should be involved seems strange to me.

Think about it. You could say that more [insert demographic] should be involved in it. Would you ever say that less [insert demographic] should be involved in it? What would really be the difference? In both instances you're making a judgement on how many [insert demographic] should be involved with electro-music.

Of course if there are sinister plots being hatched in dark places that are keeping young girls from taking up synthesizers and joining the fray then by all means let's root them out. If it's borne of some more benign social construct cultivated by ignorance then let's deal with that too. But simply saying that it "should" be that way when we're not even sure why it's that way seems to be jumping the gun a bit.

I'm not content to judge the "larger sexist society" by intuition alone.


This is probably the post I was thinking about. There was only a response to my "benign social construct" statement, but I think the other points I raise are central to this issue.

I normally don't get into discussion like this on the web, but this topic interests me because I have always been interested in how these kind of "elusive" social pressures affect us all, or least how we allow them to affect us.

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bbinkovitz



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PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2007 12:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

stringtapper wrote:
I think the other points I raise are central to this issue.


yes, i agree. i think i have made posts discussing a lot of the stuff you were talking about, just not in response to this specific post.

Quote:

I normally don't get into discussion like this on the web, but this topic interests me because I have always been interested in how these kind of "elusive" social pressures affect us all, or least how we allow them to affect us.


yeah, it's always a fine line between spirited debate and internet bickering. elusive is a good word for these social pressures -- one must ask constantly "do i want this, or am i afraid of what will happen if i don't behave this way?" this applies to everyone who has ever been a member of any society whatsoever, and it applies to everyone differently.

the way i see it, women are a group who have a great many of these elusive social pressures in common. or maybe it's that these elusive social pressures are telling us that women have a lot more in common with each other than we actually do. either way, to talk about these things requires group-specific analysis. the overlap between a mostly-male group like electronic musicans and the group females in general is an interesting sub-group of both, and i ask myself what is different about female electronic musicans from females in general? what is different about male electronic musicians from males in general? what is different about female electronic musicians from male electronic musicians?

these questions seem more fruitful (because they are more specific) than big, contentious questions like, "how are men different from women?", which are too vague to be answered with any certainty, and yet raise hot emotions in many people, making for arguments that go in circles and lead to hostilities.

bottom line: i want to make sure that everyone with a predisposition to electronics and/or artistic creativity is encouraged to learn and grow. barriers to learning and growing should be examined and removed or reduced. since these barriers vary by race, class, gender, and other sub-groupings, it makes sense to look at them by group specifically. and since there are disproportionately fewer representatives of some groups, such as women, afro-americans, and many other groups, it stands to reason that the barriers to the type of creativity that leads to interest in electronic music faced by members these groups might be higher than for the predominant group within the electro community (white males).

this is not to imply that the white males themselves have done anything wrong. rather, it is an evaluation of a larger system that came into being long before anyone here was even a glimmer in their parents' eyes, that values the time and resources of white males above those of other groups. if i were to blame anyone/thing, it wouldn't be white males, it would be pre-modern agriculturalists. but even to blame them is iffy, since they were dealing with things we don't even consider today and survival was tough for them.

my conclusion, then, is that the system we have now was probably very useful at one point, but in a world where people do things like make music with machines, this patriarchal structure has outlived its usefulness, while still leaving vestiges of itself in our cultural values and individual social predispositions.

we're smart people here, so it should be possible for us to bring at least our own little corner of humanity somewhat more up to date. we shouldn't be wasting our brainpower carrying old hang-ups from the stone age while trying to bend circuits and make midi underwear.
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deknow



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PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 11:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Quote:
barriers to learning and growing should be examined and removed or reduced. since these barriers vary by race, class, gender, and other sub-groupings, it makes sense to look at them by group specifically. and since there are disproportionately fewer representatives of some groups, such as women, afro-americans, and many other groups, it stands to reason that the barriers to the type of creativity that leads to interest in electronic music faced by members these groups might be higher than for the predominant group within the electro community (white males).


this is, i think the crux of the discussion here. i would ask the following questions:

1. are all "barriers" bad? i have lots of intrests...and one of the barriers i face in getting involved in new, interesting, and productive ventures is that i already have so many. would i prefer to drop some of my current hobbies to explore new ones? if i did, i would do so (and have). ...but these barriers are, on the whole good. if i'm too busy keeping bees to buy chickens (which i would like to do), what would i do to remove this barrier? stop keeping bees? stop sleeping? my point is that sometimes a barrier is a symptom of something good and productive, rather than being a sign of discrimination, or repression of specific groups. high paid executives might not grow their own food because they don't have time. farmers might not have high paying jobs because they are too busy growing food. in most cases, one would not want to swap lives with one another...barriers exist, but are they oppressive or wrong?

2. aside from a few examples of getting sweaters instead of erector sets for chanukah, i don't think that there has been any actual discussion of what the barriers are that women face in regards to electronic music. certainly there have been some "percieved fears", but, now that you have participated on many of the forums here and have some experience to speak about, i'd be curious to hear if you think that there are barriers to women being _here_.

deknow
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 5:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

deknow wrote:

1. are all "barriers" bad? [...] my point is that sometimes a barrier is a symptom of something good and productive, rather than being a sign of discrimination, or repression of specific groups. high paid executives might not grow their own food because they don't have time. farmers might not have high paying jobs because they are too busy growing food. in most cases, one would not want to swap lives with one another...barriers exist, but are they oppressive or wrong?


"The wonderful thing about America is our freedom of choice. I chose to be a bank president. My secretary chose to be a secretary."
-- Philadelphia bank president speaking to 9to5 founder Karen Nussbaum before her luncheon speech (quote from "Taking on the Big Boys" by Ellen Bravo, pp. 69)

Quote:

2. aside from a few examples of getting sweaters instead of erector sets for chanukah, i don't think that there has been any actual discussion of what the barriers are that women face in regards to electronic music. certainly there have been some "percieved fears", but, now that you have participated on many of the forums here and have some experience to speak about, i'd be curious to hear if you think that there are barriers to women being _here_.


as i said earlier, i don't think there are any specific barriers within the forum to women being _here_. i think there are barriers within society to women being interested in technical things, and hence electronics, and hence electro-music, and hence being _here_. i was hoping that we could find ways to do some outreach of some sort, to compensate within the forum and event community for barriers erected by society at large that are not specific to this board or even to electronic music. at the very least, i was hoping to recognize and encourage those women and minorities who are already _here_.

i also think that "percieved fears" qualify as barriers to women being _here_. if anxiety about gender issues prevents a woman from joining this forum who otherwise would have, that's not just her problem. that's your problem too, as a community that is (unknowingly and through no specific fault of its own) losing her contributions. in online messageboards especially, women can often expect precisely the kind of rude, gender-related treatment that one sees refreshingly little of (i.e., none, outside of discussion of specifically gender-sensitive topics) on this particular board.

i think the biggest barrier to women knowing that they are capable of pursuing their interests is lack of female role models. this is partly due to the lack of women in certain fields, but even in fields where women are comparatively scarce, there are often many who have made great contributions and just need to be better publicized.

for example, had i heard of laurie anderson earlier than i did, i probably would have started getting into multimedia and electronic performance art earlier, and would probably be a more accomplished artist by now, and as such would have more to offer the electro-music.community. see?

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saintshe



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PostPosted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 10:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

let me start by saying this-- i am a woman. i'm a woman who has been interested in electronic music since a very early age. i'm a woman who creates electronic music. i'm a woman who attended e-m 'ohseven.

that being said-- (and coming from a very sensitive "feminist" lens) there is nothing within electro-music that should intimidate or "keep away" truly interested and inspired females from participating. the forums keep to the neutral subject at hand, electronic music. concerning the actual event, i went by myself for three days and did not feel uncomfortable once. everyone i spoke with, male and female alike, were all very respectful, intelligent, and kind. i was not given treatment that would give reason for a girl to NOT be involved.. in all actuality, i liked it so much that i definitely offered myself up as a volunteer for next year, and offered to provide vegan food for the potluck for all three days. as long as the community is made aware to be sensitive of diversity and encouraged to treat each other fairly and kindly, what more can you ask for? the interested and determined will arrive, regardless.
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bbinkovitz



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PostPosted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 10:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

saintshe wrote:
there is nothing within electro-music that should intimidate or "keep away" truly interested and inspired females from participating. the forums keep to the neutral subject at hand, electronic music. concerning the actual event, i went by myself for three days and did not feel uncomfortable once. everyone i spoke with, male and female alike, were all very respectful, intelligent, and kind. i was not given treatment that would give reason for a girl to NOT be involved..

i'm glad you had such a great time! i did too, and i had the same welcoming experience at '06 too.
Quote:

in all actuality, i liked it so much that i definitely offered myself up as a volunteer for next year, and offered to provide vegan food for the potluck for all three days.

hot! i'm a vegetarian and have intermittently been vegan, and am into cooking. when it gets closer to time for '08, let me know if i can help with the vegan food preparations.

maybe we should get a "vegetarians/vegans in electro" thread started in this forum!
Quote:

as long as the community is made aware to be sensitive of diversity and encouraged to treat each other fairly and kindly, what more can you ask for? the interested and determined will arrive, regardless.

i agree that electro-music.com and the electro-music events have all the welcoming community spirit i could dream of asking for. the thing is, with wanting to start a women in electro discussion, i wasn't trying to ask for anything; i was just trying to get a conversation going among friends on a topic that is important and interesting to me. i hoped (and continue to hope) to contribute something of my own perspective that other people might find helpful and affirming, rather than asking for something that was "lacking".

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saintshe



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PostPosted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 10:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

bbinkovitz wrote:
saintshe wrote:
there is nothing within electro-music that should intimidate or "keep away" truly interested and inspired females from participating. the forums keep to the neutral subject at hand, electronic music. concerning the actual event, i went by myself for three days and did not feel uncomfortable once. everyone i spoke with, male and female alike, were all very respectful, intelligent, and kind. i was not given treatment that would give reason for a girl to NOT be involved..

i'm glad you had such a great time! i did too, and i had the same welcoming experience at '06 too.
Quote:

in all actuality, i liked it so much that i definitely offered myself up as a volunteer for next year, and offered to provide vegan food for the potluck for all three days.

hot! i'm a vegetarian and have intermittently been vegan, and am into cooking. when it gets closer to time for '08, let me know if i can help with the vegan food preparations.

maybe we should get a "vegetarians/vegans in electro" thread started in this forum!
Quote:

as long as the community is made aware to be sensitive of diversity and encouraged to treat each other fairly and kindly, what more can you ask for? the interested and determined will arrive, regardless.

i agree that electro-music.com and the electro-music events have all the welcoming community spirit i could dream of asking for. the thing is, with wanting to start a women in electro discussion, i wasn't trying to ask for anything; i was just trying to get a conversation going among friends on a topic that is important and interesting to me. i hoped (and continue to hope) to contribute something of my own perspective that other people might find helpful and affirming, rather than asking for something that was "lacking".


well, that makes sense. every discussion strays from its original meaning. i was mostly addressing the "concern for answers". and i will certainly let you know if i need some help with the food.
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deknow



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PostPosted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 11:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

i don't go to too many "concerts" these days....but what is the gender split at a well publicized "electronc music concert" these days? i remeber that going to things like king crimson or yes being fairly heavily weighted towards men in the audience...and i know mark jenkins said the same thing about "space music" concerts in england. i don't think i'd be overassuming to say that there are more "women that come with men" rather than "men who come with women"...and probably more than "women and men that would both show up independantly".

is the gender split about musical taste/caring about music enough to pay money to go see it?

bars seem to have a much more even gender split than "concert venues" in my estimation as well.

if my assumptions are wrong, i apologize...but they are based on my observations.

deknow
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 12:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

deknow wrote:

is the gender split about musical taste/caring about music enough to pay money to go see it?

bars seem to have a much more even gender split than "concert venues" in my estimation as well.

if my assumptions are wrong, i apologize...but they are based on my observations.

deknow


these are interesting observations and good questions! i don't go to many concerts either, since i am really trying to save money right now so i can continue university stuff. when i do go out, it's usually because smokris is playing drums for someone's local gig, which are usually in small bars full of hipsters but they have at least 3 bands together usually so i see some other bands too. i have noticed in columbus recently a slight increase in female keyboard players in local bands, and of course they are often on vocals. i haven't seen any female percussionists or bassists and very few female guitarists. also, i have noticed that one-man shows are usually just that-- i haven't seen any female singer/songwriter performances.

i don't really know why this would be -- in my family there are 3 girls and 1 boy, and we all learned many musical instruments growing up. we all learned drums and piano, several girls learned violin and viola, and my brother learned trombone. i'm the only one who still plays music anymore at all, and i play mainly guitar and am not very good at it anymore. my youngest sister just got an electric guitar though, so i will invite her over and have her put it through the nm1 sometime!

anyway, my tendency is to generalize trends i see within my family (which of course is not very scientific to start with) but in this case, we all forgot about all our musical training pretty much equally. so, no clues there!

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PostPosted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 12:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

bbinkovitz wrote:
also, i have noticed that one-man shows are usually just that-- i haven't seen any female singer/songwriter performances.


A few years ago when tarvis.org and I were playing gigs around Columbus regularly, I noticed exactly the opposite --- at least 75% of the one-person shows who opened for us / for whom we opened --- were one-woman shows. Typically one woman doing guitar and vocals, or keys and vocals.
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 12:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

smokris wrote:
bbinkovitz wrote:
also, i have noticed that one-man shows are usually just that-- i haven't seen any female singer/songwriter performances.


A few years ago when tarvis.org and I were playing gigs around Columbus regularly, I noticed exactly the opposite --- at least 75% of the one-person shows who opened for us / for whom we opened --- were one-woman shows. Typically one woman doing guitar and vocals, or keys and vocals.


tarvis is hippie music, tho. i think it's a genre thing -- indie hipster stuff (or whatever genre you would call spanish prisoners ) seems to have more men than women at the front, as opposed to tarvis' co-genreists.

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 7:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

etherline wrote:
bbinkovitz wrote:

...not very encouraging to female musicians wanting to be a part of the group.


Just a personal point of view here; but I find most of the posts in this forum very discouraging. Will it really encourage women to take part in this forum to read academic musings about the role of women in society? May I humbly suggest that perhaps the esteemed moderator and others might like to tell us a bit about their motivations for and experience of being involved in this form of music. Rather than an abstract debate, what could be more inspiring than a few stories from women who are actually involved in electro-music?
I, for one, would really *like* to hear what women think about being involved in this form of music. Maybe some women would as well.


Hi! I just joined this forum. I'm not only a chick but a "mature" chick!! (I was there when the Beatles were cutting edge.)

I'm curious if there are more women in electro music than in 'rock'. I play guitar, bass, banjo etc. I'm usually in a very small minority of girls. I joined an all women bluegrass band in the 70s 'cause I thought if there were guys in the band they would hit on me and my hubby would have a problem.

Now if I go to jams, I feel like I have to prove myself, "she's an old lady BUT SHE PLAYS GOOD." If I sucked at playing, it would be even worse than if I was a guy. "she sucks AND she's an old lady."

Now I got a recording interface and I want to learn to do ambient trax. Well, nobody will see me so it won't matter how old I am or what gender I am. Right?
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 7:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

laura woodswalker wrote:
Right?

right Exclamation and welcome to electro-music.com Very Happy

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 7:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

deknow wrote:

is the gender split about musical taste/caring about music enough to pay money to go see it?


I'm a newby here. My 2 cents is that some of the concerts, dances, happenings etc. are late at nite in questionable parts of town. I wouldn't go there alone. (I'm a suburban lady). In my experience women are taught to be afraid to go out by themselves at nite in 'scary' areas. There is some internalized fear that surrounds any sort of large crowd of strangers type event. Maybe it's different for the younger girls but I have a subconscious mindset that you always need to have a Guy around for protection.

Really Sucks.

And of course, in many countries you absolutely can't do ANYTHING without a Guy around. Like, middle eastern countries.

That Mega-sucks.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 8:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

saintshe wrote:
let me start by saying this-- i am a woman. i'm a woman who has been interested in electronic music since a very early age. i'm a woman who creates electronic music. i'm a woman who attended e-m 'ohseven.

that being said-- (and coming from a very sensitive "feminist" lens) there is nothing within electro-music that should intimidate or "keep away" truly interested and inspired females from participating.


HI! I just found this forum. I'm actually a 'vintage' chick (I grew up when the Beatles were cutting edge). I think I'll use that word VINTAGE from now on to describe my age Laughing I play guitar & various other instruments, I just got a recording interface and I want to create ambient music. Well, I've been seeing references to an EVENT that happens around Philly but I can't find any details.

Maybe you could help me? Thanks a million Smile
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 8:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

[quote="laura woodswalker"]
etherline wrote:
bbinkovitz wrote:

...not very encouraging to female musicians wanting to be a part of the group.


Just a personal point of view here; but I find most of the posts in this forum very discouraging. Will it really encourage women to take part in this forum to read academic musings about the role of women in society?


I completely agree. It was not at all my intention to have a long, meandering, tangential argument such as the one that ended up happening here. When I came up with the idea for this forum, what I had in mind was more like what you are calling for. A heated debate about whether this forum even has a place on the boards, complete with people accusing others of "rescuing" me if someone shared my opinion, and a troll or two for good measure, was not something I had anticipated or wanted, but neither was it something I could stand aloof from or censor. Ah, life.

Quote:

Hi! I just joined this forum. I'm not only a chick but a "mature" chick!! (I was there when the Beatles were cutting edge.)

I'm curious if there are more women in electro music than in 'rock'. I play guitar, bass, banjo etc. I'm usually in a very small minority of girls. I joined an all women bluegrass band in the 70s 'cause I thought if there were guys in the band they would hit on me and my hubby would have a problem.

Now if I go to jams, I feel like I have to prove myself, "she's an old lady BUT SHE PLAYS GOOD." If I sucked at playing, it would be even worse than if I was a guy. "she sucks AND she's an old lady."

Now I got a recording interface and I want to learn to do ambient trax. Well, nobody will see me so it won't matter how old I am or what gender I am. Right?


Thanks so much for sharing your experiences! This is the kind of communication I was hoping for --- that women could discuss these things, compare notes and maybe gain some perspective. Being very young (I'm 22 for those who didn't know me) and fairly new-ish to electronic music (besides some youthful indiscretions with QBASIC and SoundBlaster, I just started getting into it in early spring 2006) I am still very much searching for a musical "voice" and definitely working on forming an electro-musical identity. Perhaps because I got into electronic music because of a guy (smokris, for those who know him) I feel like I have to go an extra mile to prove myself, even to myself. Having gone to two E-M events with project ruori, I still feel like I come off as more of a groupie than I do a participant because most of my creative contribution to the pieces we've done so far has been in the planning and composing stages rather than being on stage performing. Although, another ruori female who came to EM06 and was onstage a lot recently told me that she felt the same way (and the "groupie" terminology was actually from what she said to me). Perhaps this is just biased conjecture, but I don't think I'd feel like a "groupie" to my own group if I were male?

So, in short I'm still just sort of figuring things out, taking it all in and getting interested and inspired by the stuff I find cool, but I feel pressure to "prove" that I am really a participant and not just a passive spectator of my man's interest and ability. I feel judged, and so do at least two of the other ruori females, and I don't know exactly why we feel this way because at the EM events everyone has been very nice to us and we've gotten no sexist treatment or anything.

So this pressure and worry and self-doubt is something I'm trying to trace back to the source(s) and a big part of the reason I wanted this forum, to try to explore this phenomenon and how it affects forming a musical persona with other women. Which necessarily requires some musings about the role of women in society, but would ideally not get bogged down in that.

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 8:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

laura woodswalker wrote:
saintshe wrote:
let me start by saying this-- i am a woman. i'm a woman who has been interested in electronic music since a very early age. i'm a woman who creates electronic music. i'm a woman who attended e-m 'ohseven.

that being said-- (and coming from a very sensitive "feminist" lens) there is nothing within electro-music that should intimidate or "keep away" truly interested and inspired females from participating.


HI! I just found this forum. I'm actually a 'vintage' chick (I grew up when the Beatles were cutting edge). I think I'll use that word VINTAGE from now on to describe my age Laughing I play guitar & various other instruments, I just got a recording interface and I want to create ambient music. Well, I've been seeing references to an EVENT that happens around Philly but I can't find any details.

Maybe you could help me? Thanks a million Smile


http://electro-music.com/event/

welcome! Very Happy

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 7:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

welcome Laura.

I'm a bit of an old timer too. Bet I'm older than you. 61.

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 8:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

welcome Laura.

you wrote:
In my experience women are taught to be afraid to go out by themselves at nite in 'scary' areas.


Men might experience it the same way once grown up enough .. I guess .. or when having a less general sexual orientation, or just a different nose, depending on the social context that is in fashion.

I hope we can change, as humans, to have a place for everyone. Ability to change is supposed to be our evolutionary advantage over other species ... the older I get though the more repeats I see. Maybe I'm just not old enough, or having the wrong nose Very Happy

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PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 7:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I was surprised at how few posts were in here given that it seems to have generated so many views. I guess its a topic that generates a lot of interest, which has to be a good thing ie. we are discussing it, thats good.
i will say that maybe because there are so few role women in electronic music, the good ones certainly seem a degree more fascinating than their male peers. (or is that just me?)

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PostPosted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 3:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

SugarRatz wrote:
I was surprised at how few posts were in here given that it seems to have generated so many views. I guess its a topic that generates a lot of interest, which has to be a good thing ie. we are discussing it, thats good.
i will say that maybe because there are so few role women in electronic music, the good ones certainly seem a degree more fascinating than their male peers. (or is that just me?)


or even the mediocre ones! Wink

let's just say it seems most people at E-M know my name, but I can't remotely recall everyone else's.

Being almost the only one of something has its uncomfortable side. I can't just fade into the background. There might even be people who would catch my set just because I'm "unique". Which, if it was a bad set, would be embarassing.

welcome SugarRatz! I used to post on this forum a lot but it seems to have died down some, unless I'm just missing something.

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