Ok... I have been trying to avoid making a post, but it seems i can't hold
myself back. I would like to comment on a few things mentioned here today
as well as relate some of my own experiences.
Gwendal wrote:
> I've always wondered why I couldn't get any of my girlfriends to listen
to
> hours of Autechre or Surgeon ?
Well, this i don't know... cause i happen to love both surgeon and
autechre.
Darw_n wrote:
> In my
> grandma's words, women care about plowing the fields and feeding the
babies
> while men care about big abstract ideas...
well, this is the reason that i didn't want to get into this thread,
but here goes. i think that this is true. not that i have babies to feed
(unless you count my dog) or fields to plow, but my spinning always comes
behind my practical responsibilities. to me it is very important to create
a stable environment for myself. i must have a job, know where i will live
and know that i am getting my next paycheck. it would be completely
impossible for me to conceive of giving up that stability in favor of
exploring music. i think women tend to be more hardwired for survival and
are in general less carefree than men. providing stability for a family
doesn't always lend itself to energy-soaking activities like playing or
making music.
not that the two are mutually exclusive, but i work 10 hours per day,
and then i come home and i work on consulting contracts until it is time to
go to bed and then wake up at 5:00 am again. somewhere in there i find time
to do housework and relax, and i go out usually only one night per week.
though many find relaxation in playing and making music, for me it is just
the opposite: it is frustrating and stressful. which brings me to my next
point:
Todd Gys wrote:
> Personally, I think women have a better natural ability to pick up on
dj'ing
> and producing music. "Biologically" it's been shown that women have a
> predisposed talent in detail-oriented tasks; something definitely
worthwhile
> when learning to beatmatch, or make music. I'll never forget the first
time
> my girlfriend went to my turntables...she matched a beat on her very
first
> try. Luck? Doubt it...she had a natural knack. She showed the same
talent
> when she all of the sudden decided to make a track on her own.
either i am mentally retarded, or your girlfriend has a knack that is
just a knack and not "biological". if turntablism were biological, there
would be female equivalents of jeff mills, claude young, q-bert and craze.
and there aren't.
I have been listening to dance music for nearly ten years. It seemed
to me, that when i got my tables and mixer setup, it would come naturally.
"of course i will be good at this" i thought. "how could i not be? i know
exactly when a mix is on or off, i mix tracks in my head. i am a relentless
dj critic." but when the time came, and i got my own setup, i was presented
with only frustration. i can beatmatch. that is not the problem. the
problem is that i cannot tell which record is faster. with two of the same
records, i can rock it... but it can take the whole length of a record two
or three times over for me to get them the same speed. and i count. but, i
just am not good at it. not yet. i am not discouraged. i am sure i will be
able to do it in the future. but i get very frustrated, and this
frustration leads me to avoiding it.
now, i have to say, this is not usually my way. in most cases, when
encountered with a challenge, i see it as an opportunity to win. to test
and prove myself. but with music it is different. i guess because it hasn't
come easily - and i am one of those people who is good at everything. how
could i not be good at this thing that i love so much?
so, in the mean time, i have to set aside serious time to practice.
and it will come. but it takes a lot of time, and time is not something
that i have a lot of. i would rather spend my time earning money. i am
sure, once i can mix, it will be a joy and a pleasure, i just hope that is
soon.
....
ok, on to other things...
experiences as a female into electronic music:
- enter record store. ask clerk if they have x. "oh, we onnly have that on
vinyl, not on CD."
this is my most despised encounter.
- ask dj (who doesn't know me) "what is x track?" "oh, it's just a
record." ya muthaf*ker but what record?
second most despised thing that every happened (only twice)
- people assuming you are a dj girlfriend or dj whore or just a profiler
- guys in the scene assuming that you don't know about labels or artists
or history - people tend to think that if you are a girl, you like the
music because it is a good soundtrack for raving or clubbing or
something... that it is not music to you, or that you can't be passionate
about it.
in general, you need to earn respect as a female in the scene. people
assume that you don't measure up. but i have NEVER EVER encountered sexism
after someone figured me out. in terms of people being skeptical of
others... i mean guys may think i am some dumb chick, but i usually thinkn
they are some stupid punk who just came into the sh*t last year and doesn't
know sh*t. so i think we are even. sometimes i am right, and sometimes i am
wrong, and the same goes for them.
in terms of pre-judging, i am probably harsher with women. i assume they
just like the music to dance to at a club and can't tell the difference
between house and techno and trance. and that is sometimes true and
sometimes not. part of my judgement is because i don't like girls who give
women a bad name. another part is that i always want to be the coolest
chick (which i always am, unless diana is around - and then we are even -
*ha*)... and another part is just the nature of female competitiveness.
i used to be a promoter in detroit. i got respect from the boys club that
ran the city at the time. i remember a conversation in which me and another
male promoter explicitly discussed this fact. i appreciate that. to me,
everyone has to prove themselves before gaining my respect, so i don't
think this is a big deal.
in terms of the lack of # of female djs. i think part of it is the way that
guys tend to get together and do the same thing for hours and play with
their tables, and play with their gear, and monopolize it. it is hard to
get a minute on the decks at a party full of djs if you are a guy, let
alone if you are a girl with wobbly mixing.
i also think that other women have had similar problems to mine with
mixing. and that combined with trying to fight their boyfriend for time on
the decks (i know a lot of this goes on) can lead to being slower to catch
up.
a lot of female djs are being recognized and coming into their own now,
though, and i think this is good. i don't like to overanalyze stuff. there
is nothing that can hold women back. we can do anything. i think that we
just approach things differently than men. and i don't think anyone is
holding us down.
blah blah,
h
