Why I’m I a feminist? Because This is How my Friends’ Show was Written up by NYULocal.
from NYULocal’s showlistings:
Amy Klein and the Blue Star Band at the Hive
8:30 p.m., Free All Ages
Amy Klein, former member of the intense and beloved Titus Andronicus, will be playing some feminist benefit. Amy Klein is one of those people who can be all bra-burning and feminist, but not annoying about it. The show is technically free ($5-10 suggested donation) so there’s really no reason not go.
First of all, the show is not a benefit concert, but if it was (the band plays many), I’m glad you trivialize the idea of people giving back to their community by donating their time and art. Secondly, sliding scale is not free, so you are wrong again.
But most of all, that is an incredibly sexist description of an incredibly talented all female rock group. What exactly is being all bra burning and feminist mean to you? Are you referring to the time Amy organized a rally to protest the acquittal of Officers Franklin Mata and Kenneth Moreno? Or maybe last week when the band’s cello player Heidi organized a benefit concert for Sister Somalia, the only organization in that country helping survivors of sexual violence. Or is it that keyboard player Kiri tirelessly works to book shows showcasing female musicians in an effort to create a space for woman that is supportive and not sexist, a space, unlike your column, where they be will taken seriously for their craft. You are right. These things are feminist, and they are important and necessary.
Does my standing up against your sexist, trite cliches annoy you? If so, I’m not sorry.
PS. I’m not even wearing a bra today, so bwahahahahaha. (But if I was, I wouldn’t burn it. That shits expensive!)
PPS. tweet @NYULocal if you don’t think sexist show listings are okay either.
Boys aren’t better at DJing than girls. We don’t DJ with our vaginas. But the fact is, in my experience, they clearly think they are and do make it more difficult for us. I’ve had male DJs reach over as I mixed two tracks and start twiddling with the knobs. Or come and stand behind me and instruct me on what to do.
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Hanna Hanra in the snarky “Why are There No Female DJ’s Mag’s Top 100 List” in The Guardian.
I think Hanra raises a good (and hilarious) point; there really aren’t inherent differences in capability based on gender, but as someone that works in a technical field, filmmaking, I see this too (a lack of female filmmakers). I think it’s a complex issue, but I’ve often wondered whether the idea that cisgendered men are more technical (or musical) is so ingrained, that they are nurtured or encouraged to follow those fields from a young age. And of course sexism is still rampant, so the female (and non-cis male DJs) that do exist are most likely being treated in the same manner that Hanra faces and encounter all the obstacles that come with battling sexism in any workplace. I guess my mini thesis would have to be, that perhaps problem stems from outmoded assumptions about gender coupled with misogyny and sexism. The real question is, how do you solve that? I think Hanra provides one answer by getting people talking and or writing about this issue, as one thing that bugged me in the comments section of The Guardian was how people dismissed the article’s relevance based on who was on the list (ie, if Skrillex is on, we can’t take it seriously). However, it’s naive to not see such a list as indicative of the music industry, and a women’s place in it (as pop stars mostly), on a whole. I think it’s high time we take sexism in all it’s forms damn seriously, even if you don’t take the rankings seriously.
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