This weeks forum was a controversial one. "Gender in Music Technology" when there are only 3 girls doing the course is kind of difficult. As one of the only girls, I felt awkward, especially as the two first male presenters focused on why women don't want to do music technology or why they are disadvantaged in the area. Until this forum, it didn't feel like an issue. I hadn't thought about the fact that I'm majorly out-numbered, and if I had, it wasn't because it was a bad thing, it was just a thing. It's also now thrown light on the fact that I am a female, and because of some of the opinions thrown around, (though I know it's not what they intended),I felt like I had to justify why I was in the course. Which wasn't a pleasant feeling. But anyway, on to what I thought of the presentations...
Well the first 2 presentations were interesting. Mostly for the fact that a lot of the things said we either didn't agree with, or thought were mis-informed. Which I realise is much the same thing, but with a subtle yet important difference. When I disagreed it was entirely opinion based, but mis-informed I knew certain things better. I am a girl, so I know that some things said were so generalised as to be wrong. That said, they were still interesting to hear and everything, if sometimes awkward.
My presentation was also interesting. For me. I went up there with a few facts and a lot of opinions. I was so nervous. My hands were shaking so much I couldn't turn up the volume on the CD. However, I think I did ok. I like to think I made the point that feminism has no place in the music technology industry, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be able to do it. I found it hard to fnid the right words to say what I meant without ust repeating myself and contradicting myself.
Hopefully my presentation was successful. I enjoyed doing it once I got over my nerves. I still think it was a bad topic though.
2 comments:
Quoting Amy Sincock:
“I like to think I made the point that feminism has no place in the music technology industry, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be able to do it.”
Hi Amy, I think some of the motivation behind Stephen’s choosing of this topic may have been to highlight that while their shouldn’t be a need for feminism in music technology, the reality is that it’s a male dominated field which inevitably results in the work of females being scrutinised differently by many involved. It may seem frustrating, stupid and baseless but it can and will happen. For this reason many women choosing this path may find they need to adopt certain techniques and stand points used successfully for similar purpose by feminist leaders in the past to ensure they get a fair go. I certainly agree with the point you made at this weeks forum, that we should all be equally judged by merit of the talent and artistic integrity that we have to offer, but as George Orwell’s evil pig dictator Napoleon said in Animal Farm: “Some animals are more equal than others.”
There are still plenty of stupid men out there in modern Australian society that swear by this dated misogynistic shite in relation to women, and in a male dominated area like music technology you may come up against more than your fair share. However; I don’t write this to insinuate that you should be walking around with your defensive guard up all day; it’s just to state what I believe is one of the reasons for our being encouraged to talk about this in the first place…
Oh you had to bring Orwell into this...
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