After last weeks discussion of women in the art world it was evident that although the thought of women being able to be active members in the art community and produce worthwhile art is becoming much more widely accepted, the truth of the matter is that in the actual industry there are still not many women artists being represented. Also, in the article we read titled ‘Beauty and the Geek’ we learned that women have also been having a similar problem in computer related trades. Although being a woman and a computer programming “geek” is now acceptable, it is hard to deny that the “geek” jobs are still primarily male dominated.
Both of these articles bring us to an industry that, I feel, combine both art and technology. The incredibly male dominated audio industry. When I started at Columbia for Audio Engineering I had no idea that I was going into such a male dominated major, but I soon found out when I started my classes that I was very out of place. I’m a senior now and over the four years that I’ve been at Columbia, I’ve still yet to have an audio class that had another girl in it! As you might be able to imagine, this can be very intimidating at times. You’re showing your audio project in front of a room full a guys and you just can’t help but think that all eyes are on you while they intensely listen to what you’ve done, seeing if you can actually produce something worthy. Every semester I get comments about being the girl in the class, both by classmates and teachers, you’d think they never saw a girl before! For example, just this semester at the start of class a classmate leaned over to me and asked, “So...how does it feel to be the only girl in this class?” to which I responded, “...Um, feels like every other audio class?”. He didn’t like my sarcasm too much.
If I can go through a four year school program for audio engineering and not encounter one other girl in my classes, I wonder how many women there are out in the field right now actually working in the industry. My guess is not very many at all. So the question arises: Why aren’t there any women studying audio let alone working in the audio field? There are many female musicians, and usually how you get into audio is because you are an artist that becomes interested in the recording process. At least, this is what happened with me. Is this possibly because, unlike me, women already know that audio is male dominated and so they don’t want to put themselves in a situation that might be uncomfortable? Whatever the reason is, I wish that women would start to pursue audio because it seems to be the most lacking of any other major at Columbia when it comes to the woman count. Of course there are some up sides, there’s never a line at the bathroom for instance, but come on ladies I think it’s about time for some female company!
Both of these articles bring us to an industry that, I feel, combine both art and technology. The incredibly male dominated audio industry. When I started at Columbia for Audio Engineering I had no idea that I was going into such a male dominated major, but I soon found out when I started my classes that I was very out of place. I’m a senior now and over the four years that I’ve been at Columbia, I’ve still yet to have an audio class that had another girl in it! As you might be able to imagine, this can be very intimidating at times. You’re showing your audio project in front of a room full a guys and you just can’t help but think that all eyes are on you while they intensely listen to what you’ve done, seeing if you can actually produce something worthy. Every semester I get comments about being the girl in the class, both by classmates and teachers, you’d think they never saw a girl before! For example, just this semester at the start of class a classmate leaned over to me and asked, “So...how does it feel to be the only girl in this class?” to which I responded, “...Um, feels like every other audio class?”. He didn’t like my sarcasm too much.
If I can go through a four year school program for audio engineering and not encounter one other girl in my classes, I wonder how many women there are out in the field right now actually working in the industry. My guess is not very many at all. So the question arises: Why aren’t there any women studying audio let alone working in the audio field? There are many female musicians, and usually how you get into audio is because you are an artist that becomes interested in the recording process. At least, this is what happened with me. Is this possibly because, unlike me, women already know that audio is male dominated and so they don’t want to put themselves in a situation that might be uncomfortable? Whatever the reason is, I wish that women would start to pursue audio because it seems to be the most lacking of any other major at Columbia when it comes to the woman count. Of course there are some up sides, there’s never a line at the bathroom for instance, but come on ladies I think it’s about time for some female company!
Anastasia
Wow, that surprising that you never have another girl in your classes! I know a girl who is graduating in Audio Arts in December; maybe she's the only other girl...? This is a peculiar situation and I wonder why more women aren't in the program. Audio isn't something that can be separated by gender in regards to an interest level or skill level. Obviously, we all deal with audio on an everyday basis and I'm sure more women are interested. Maybe it really is the intimidation that it is a male-dominated industry so they don't bother to even try. Sometimes, people are just afraid to venture into what is difficult out of fear or convenience.
ReplyDeleteThat's disappointing when you think of how many females musical artists there are, you would think more would be interested in the behind the scenes aspect of music.
I think you can be an inspiration to other women by paving the way for them in the audio industry, or at least at Columbia. Maybe a group could be formed or some kind of organization to gain awareness for women joining the audio program here at Columbia, (and you could find the other mystery girls in the major!)
-Regina
In my experience, the entire audio industry is kind of intimidating. I can only imagine girls getting singled out even more. Its truly a shame. Come to think of it, I've never even ran into a female working or producing at any of the studios I've been to.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how we can change things, but I want to put it out there right now that I look forward to working with more women in the studio. I sometimes feel like studios are dominated by one personality, wished that changed.
I think this isn't just a problem that we can solve by changing one thing. It must be lingering from the hundreds or better yet thousands of years of difference humans lived by. Men did one thing, women did another. We are starting to see those lines cross, but my girlfriend still won't let me wear heels and it seems as if there are some industries not embracing women as much as others. Hopefully we can wake up and not put bias on one gender or race or creed or whatever. It's all the same.
We can all do our part by hiring based on merit and encouraging every young person to do what they want and be them selves.
Sorry for the rant.
I agree that it is very hard to change the way society has been run for decades. Our mothers and grandmothers etc. set the path for us to now be able to go to college and choose a different sort of life for ourselves than they had. We have more options, but it still is not fully true. It is just going to take women of our generation and after to continue on this path and break down more and more barriers. I don't see a quick fix solution, all I see is moving forward day by day. I think it is going to take women like yourself that go for the career they have a passion for even though it is male dominated and can be intimidating. I think we need to start with encouraging young females and hopefully we will see more of a change with these male dominated careers when we are older.
ReplyDelete-Kira
From what I've gathered from my roommate who is a live sound reinforcement major here at Columbia is that women working or studying in the audio field is incredibly rare. After talking to him about this post, he and I both agree that though there aren't a lot of females going into the audio field, a majority of them actually end up doing well and find a job after school. His TA, for example, is a senior who has found a job doing sound at Goose Island in Wrigleyville.
ReplyDeleteMost bands that play at bars where there are sound techs are usually made up of males. And it's really hard to say how to change this trend and make music field more diverse. But in trying to figure that out, we realize that music is incredibly intimidating, not only to women but to new-comers and hobbyist/enthusiasts.
As a film major, I have noticed the same trend. About 80-90% of the room is male, and it's consistent from class to class. I'm not really sure why this is, though. Perhaps it has something to do with the type of work it is and the mindset of different genders? For example, I'm sure there are more females in dance and theatre, because the female sex is naturally more outgoing/social than males. Whereas males would be more drawn to game development more, because males aren't as outgoing. Obviously, this is a very general categorization, but that might have something to do with it. It is shocking you have been the only girl in all of your audio classes though.
ReplyDelete- Zach