Why are all the DJs male?

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Lawrence
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Why are all the DJs male?

#1 Post by Lawrence » Tue May 20, 2003 12:37 pm

Without getting too much into PC debate about whether or not the point should be observed, has anyone also noticed how most DJs tend to be guys? Even on this list, I think there are only one or two women. There are no female DJs in Austin, and only a few nationwide that I know of. Why?

Is there something about testosterone that inspires the uniquely-obsessive behavior necessary to delve into a music collection? Am I ignorantly standing on a glass ceiling? Do we seek noteriety such that we see DJing as an opportunity to get the sort of attention that women don't crave? Is it too much work for women to deal with? :wink: If there was more cooking and cleaning in the DJ booth, would THAT inspire more women to DJ? :P Do we scare them away by our aggressive, argumentative behavior? Or is it just one big coincidence that at least half the dancers out there are women, whereas 99% of the DJs are guys?
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Swifty
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#2 Post by Swifty » Tue May 20, 2003 1:38 pm

This may be true, but I'm seeing more and more female DJs. I think it's great.

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djstarr
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female djs

#3 Post by djstarr » Tue May 20, 2003 2:41 pm

We are too busy posting on all the ladie's lounges about how skanky all the male dancers are ;-)

Seriously, there is a good mix of male and female dj's in the Pacific NW. I think this board is still a little new, and I know that I'm just finding the time to read and post to this board.

We had a big discussion on Seattle Delphi once about whether male or female DJ's were better; I think we decided that females were because we have more empathy and play to the crowd! (how's that for a salvo....)

Brenda

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Lawrence
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#4 Post by Lawrence » Tue May 20, 2003 2:43 pm

I think its great, too, only because there are so few. I want good DJs, no matter whether they're male/female, white/black, or whatever. But its odd that we are all male, which I suspect might be diluting the quiality/evolution of our music. Part of the reason I started this thread is to find out how to encourage some of the ladies to share the burden.
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mark0tz
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#5 Post by mark0tz » Tue May 20, 2003 2:53 pm

DC has a couple of women who like to DJ, but really don't have the time and commitment to become a DJ. They just do it on the off-occasions. *shrug* I have no answer for the question at hand.
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Platypus
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#6 Post by Platypus » Tue May 20, 2003 4:41 pm

In Houston, we have a strong core of female DJs. The main difference I have noticed between the sexes here is that our guys are posting online more often and have pursued DJ slots at a few national events. Other than that, we tend to be rather low-key here.

And we leave our cooking to the men, just ask Lindychef (Martin) about his chocolate souffles.
Last edited by Platypus on Tue May 20, 2003 5:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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#7 Post by KevinSchaper » Tue May 20, 2003 5:38 pm

Platypus wrote:re "only a few that I know of".......
In Houston, we have a strong core of female DJs who are very active locally (about 1/2 are female). The main difference I have noticed between the sexes here is that our guys are posting online more often and have pursued DJ slots at national events.
haha, ie, craving attention.

I second Brenda - the northwest has tons of good female DJs, hopefully more of 'em will start showin up on here.

I bet Hep Jen has been DJing in seattle longer than most of the male djs in the northwest have even been dancing..

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#8 Post by Zot » Tue May 20, 2003 5:40 pm

Melbourne has a couple of female DJs, but a few more male DJs.

You're right, it's weird that it's not more even, but I honestly don't have the answer. I certainly don't think there is any sign that men have better taste than women in music. No way. Perhaps it's just that guys are more pushy about it.

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Ron
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#9 Post by Ron » Wed May 21, 2003 10:49 am

I'm not sure. I almost hate to speculate, but maybe its some sort of power or control thing. The guys in the Lindy scene like to be running the show?

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#10 Post by funkyfreak » Wed May 21, 2003 12:03 pm

As long as we're making over-broad generalizations, I'll offer this theory: maybe the girls are spending all their possible CD money on new haircuts, bellyrings, and make up. Yeah, that's the ticket!

-FF

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djstarr
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#11 Post by djstarr » Wed May 21, 2003 1:13 pm

Lawrence wrote: Part of the reason I started this thread is to find out how to encourage some of the ladies to share the burden.
Even though I played jazz saxophone in college and have always loved jazz, and have been dancing lindy about 5 years, I only started DJ'ing in the past couple of months.

Part of the reason is that just recently there has appeared a very non-threatening venue to practice at --- we have an informal dance on Monday's here which is run by one of the local swing clubs. There had been one guy DJ'ing for too long, so we decided to open up the DJ'ing to volunteers -- two people splitting 3 hours into 45 minute sets. This has allowed a lot of people to start DJ'ing, and it's a been a great way to practice.

The other thing that has helped is that the Century Ballroom, one of the main venues in Seattle, is run by a woman who has gone out of her way to promote female DJ's; she occasionally runs a "Ladies who Swing" night; I got to DJ a 30 minute set last month there; based on this I'm doing a full night tonight! (which I'm more than a little excited about).

Anyhow, I think having a fun place to practice DJ'ing is the key to get more people, both men and women, Dj'ing.

Brenda

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#12 Post by KevinSchaper » Wed May 21, 2003 1:36 pm

djstarr wrote: Part of the reason is that just recently there has appeared a very non-threatening venue to practice at --- we have an informal dance on Monday's here which is run by one of the local swing clubs. There had been one guy DJ'ing for too long, so we decided to open up the DJ'ing to volunteers -- two people splitting 3 hours into 45 minute sets. This has allowed a lot of people to start DJ'ing, and it's a been a great way to practice.
I think the way you guys fill up sonny's with new volunteers all the time is so cool. There's so many people up there now who are aware and excited by so much good music because of it.

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Re: Why are all the DJs male?

#13 Post by Nate Dogg » Wed May 21, 2003 3:29 pm

Lawrence wrote:There are no female DJs in Austin, and only a few nationwide that I know of. Why?
Mary Grabhorn will be moving here in July. At that point, Austin will have a female DJ.

Also, Susan Synder used to DJ a little before you moved here.

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djstarr
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#14 Post by djstarr » Wed May 21, 2003 4:28 pm

I think the way you guys fill up sonny's with new volunteers all the time is so cool. There's so many people up there now who are aware and excited by so much good music because of it.
Thanks Kevin - you should give a shout out to Bethany - she's the one doing all the hard work to coordinate etc.

It's been actually amazing to see people pull their collections out - there are a lot of fairly new dancers who have some extensive holdings.

And I'm looking forward to your battle this Saturday with Buddha Bounce - should be a good time as always.

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#15 Post by mark0tz » Thu May 22, 2003 7:42 am

I was thinking last night... How many of you were in a jazz band earlier in your life? Ever played jazz music? Hell, ever a musician in any way shape or form?

I ask this in this thread because I remember my jazz band in highschool being all guys and one young woman. We went to some competitions and other performances and the other school's jazz bands seemed much the same to me, while the concert bands and string orchestras were much more evenly divided amongst the sexes.

Perhaps it's something about jazz music that just seems to attract more men than women... perhaps mainly at that age. *shrug* [/generalization]
Mike Marcotte

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