Is this it?: Diary of a girl in the music industry
“Isn't this song pretty, girls?,” my then-professor asked us, speaking above an array of strings, bells and overall fluffiness. Of course it was, but the first time in weeks that he had acknowledged the presence of the three women in class, was to ask if we thought this graceful composition was “pretty” - had we ever been asked what we thought of a guitar solo or a snare sound? No. Only manly men listen to manly men music. Rawr.
I'm not really a feminist - sure, I like to vote, but that's about where it stops. Up until two years ago, I never once thought to myself “He just thinks that because I'm a woman,” and I never thought I had to. But when I was assigned as producer on a class project, and I watched my creative ideas get shoved down the drain by my own teacher the message became clear - the music industry is a man's world, I just live in it.
I don't resent this fact; I get it - women are less likely to be active in the music industry, and, to state the obvious, we're not men. In a way, it's almost like an opportunity - if I got chosen for a job, I'd feel pretty proud of the fact that I clearly got past the 90 per cent male competition... presumably keeping my morals intact.
There are just some aspects that women run into when we work in a male-dominated field, like walking into a room and having people stop laughing at a crude joke, just because we weren't supposed to hear it. Men are fine with me smelling their farts, but make a joke about it and suddenly you think you're defiling me. I think by that point it's a bit too late, guys.
I can't exactly fight it. If I went to every interview saying, “Hire me or I'm suing you for sexual harassment,” I wouldn't get a job in addition to making false threats. Not to mention I just don't care that much anymore. I've taken a humourous perspective to it and just roll my eyes now. Boys are silly.
Speaking as a girl who used to specialize in a female-dominated industry, I'd rather put up with a bunchy of smelly, drunk boys than deal with the neurosis that is the female mind. Or worse, over-active feminists. As I said, I like voting.
I'm not really a feminist - sure, I like to vote, but that's about where it stops. Up until two years ago, I never once thought to myself “He just thinks that because I'm a woman,” and I never thought I had to. But when I was assigned as producer on a class project, and I watched my creative ideas get shoved down the drain by my own teacher the message became clear - the music industry is a man's world, I just live in it.
I don't resent this fact; I get it - women are less likely to be active in the music industry, and, to state the obvious, we're not men. In a way, it's almost like an opportunity - if I got chosen for a job, I'd feel pretty proud of the fact that I clearly got past the 90 per cent male competition... presumably keeping my morals intact.
There are just some aspects that women run into when we work in a male-dominated field, like walking into a room and having people stop laughing at a crude joke, just because we weren't supposed to hear it. Men are fine with me smelling their farts, but make a joke about it and suddenly you think you're defiling me. I think by that point it's a bit too late, guys.
I can't exactly fight it. If I went to every interview saying, “Hire me or I'm suing you for sexual harassment,” I wouldn't get a job in addition to making false threats. Not to mention I just don't care that much anymore. I've taken a humourous perspective to it and just roll my eyes now. Boys are silly.
Speaking as a girl who used to specialize in a female-dominated industry, I'd rather put up with a bunchy of smelly, drunk boys than deal with the neurosis that is the female mind. Or worse, over-active feminists. As I said, I like voting.
