I was reading an article this morning about the dearth of women in the world of professional DJing (see below) and what struck me was how tired I am of seeing such statistics. It feels as though a good more than half of the pieces I read focusing on women tend to, in some way, be about the way women are either failing to catch up to men or are making strides, however incremental. How certain industries are notoriously sexist….ahem, tech. How some tech guy thought it was a good idea to throw a Halloween party called "Hookers and Hackers." Take a moment, let that one wash over you. Yeah, I know.
Every human being on this planet was grown inside a woman. Most of them were then pushed through a vagina - not the most pleasant experience. After that many were fed by milk produced in their mother's body, delivered through the mighty delivery system of the nipple. How then to make sense of the notion that we are the weaker sex. The sex always playing catch up, being dominated, making less money, muttering the word 'sorry' far more than ever warranted (something I am annoyingly guilt of), timidly raising a hand in class when we know full well the answer. How does this happen? It's insidious really. I was raised to always speak my mind, to believe I could do or be anything, same as my brothers. And yet…just the other night my parents were over for dinner and I asked my mother for a recipe, mentioning to her that I had recently started cooking more. Growing up, my mother could most often be found in the kitchen, food always being something she both delighted in and somewhat defined herself by (and there was never any question in my house about whose domain was whose). At about ten my brother started taking an interest in cooking too and would join my mother among the pots and pans. I never did. I found it boring and would much rather be reading. These days, it just so happens it is a skill I both want to improve upon and am finding a growing satisfaction in.
Now my father's response to my query to my mother went something like this: "You know where the kitchen is?" I let it pass, knowing he meant it as a joke. But of course, as in most jokes, there is an underlying truth being voiced. I recognized the judgement, the sense that my earlier disinterest in cooking was viewed as a lack, a form of laziness, not very female-like. So I suppose that's how it starts, with an inherent belief about how girls should be; cooks who take care, the feeding of others a prime motivation to them. He had no problem with my brother wanting to cook, which is a step. My not wanting to? A wee bit trickier. Of course, don't even get me started on the fact that most world famous chefs are male.
And as for women DJ's, all I can say is I'm personally buoyed by how many brilliant DJ's orbit my world, some of these DJ's happen to be XX, some XY. These women bring it just as hard and make you feel it just as much, as their male counterparts. They radiate such a powerful beauty behind those decks not because they are showing a lot of skin or sporting the perfect pout, but because they are so fully inhabiting themselves and living their passion.
Oh, and that Hookers and Hackers party? No one showed up. Progress? Incremental.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/03/arts/music/women-edging-their-way-into-the-dj-booth.html?ref=music&_r=0
