After perusing this board a bit, I have found that pretty much every member here is a male. I have also found this to be true when looking at any of the other audio-related forums I frequent. So, my question is this. Why is the audio industry and anything that springs from it (like a message board, etc.) so male dominated? Does it simply reflect the fact that we still live in a very patriarchal society, or does the industry itself have reasons for this being so. I KNOW that many other industries are probably the same way, but I want reasons why it is so apparent within the audio industry.

That's RIGHT! The woman is - SMARTER!



Smart enough to not waste time bein' a cyber tard, I mean.

...every member here is a male.

Member. That was cool.

wooo....are, you, like, hot and stuff?

What gives? Are you being jackasses because of the number under my username?

waitingroom wrote: Why is the audio industry and anything that springs from it (like a message board, etc.) so male dominated?

It does seem to be the case. Go through back issues of Mix, EQ, or Tape Op, and you find very few profiles of women. Look over the engineering and producing credits on your records- the same drastic disproportion. How many female staff engineers do you know working in a Chicago studio?

Why?

1- Most women don't have a gear fetish.

2- Most women are not as intuitive regarding gear as men.

3- The endless maintenance and repair cycle. You have to be an obsessive geek dude to tolerate that.

4- The hours are not conducive to a normal social life or to raising a family.

5- Most women like to talk a lot. An engineer should be quiet as much as possible.

6- If you dress nicely at work, people will think you're a freak.

7- Headphones are bad for your hair.

I'll stop. I'm sure others can add to my list ( or possibly flame the hell out of it ).

clocker bob wrote:

waitingroom wrote: Why is the audio industry and anything that springs from it (like a message board, etc.) so male dominated?

It does seem to be the case. Go through back issues of Mix, EQ, or Tape Op, and you find very few profiles of women. Look over the engineering and producing credits on your records- the same drastic disproportion. How many female staff engineers do you know working in a Chicago studio?

Why?

1- Most women don't have a gear fetish.

2- Most women are not as intuitive regarding gear as men.

3- The endless maintenance and repair cycle. You have to be an obsessive geek dude to tolerate that.

4- The hours are not conducive to a normal social life or to raising a family.

5- Most women like to talk a lot. An engineer should be quiet as much as possible.

6- If you dress nicely at work, people will think you're a freak.

7- Headphones are bad for your hair.

I'll stop. I'm sure others can add to my list ( or possibly flame the hell out of it ).

This question has been asked before on other audio boards Ive been on, and when the obvious answer has been given, that the heavy male skewing of the population of sound engineers makes being the first out of the box as a minority intimidating for women, and that on top of that there tends to be a fairly substantial amount of hostility towards women amongst sound engineers, the person offering this explanation has usually been roundly dismissed as "PC" or a "feminazi" or some other delightful, embracing term. Nonetheless, I think it's true, perhaps not amongst most of the folks on Electrical, but in general. We live in a patriarchy, and sound engineering, live or studio, is a place where that patriarchy can still be celebrated and it's benefits enjoyed without shame. If you have any doubt about that, see the responses (I can only assume tongue-in-cheek) given above. Or go hang around RecPit.

Most women are not as intuitive regarding gear as men.

I don't know, Ms. Manley is puttin' out some FINE audio gear. If ya don't think so, go join the He Man Women Hater Club or something...


http://www.manleylabs.com/

Or join NO MAAM (a la Al Bundy)!

Redline wrote:

Most women are not as intuitive regarding gear as men.

I don't know, Ms. Manley is puttin' out some FINE audio gear.

Eve Anna Manley. Pardon my ignorance ( I know the company but not the history of it ): is she the founder of the company or did she inherit it from a parent? Either way, is she actively involved in the actual design of their products? I know. I'll go to their site next ...

Here's three more recognizable women in audio:

Emily Lazar, mastering engineer.

Hillary Johnson, at Smart studios, I believe.

Jennifer at Key Club Studios

And then I got stuck. Probably some obvious ones I'm not thinking of, I'm sure.

Addendum: Eve Anna Manley is a real tech head. And the company site has some very entertaining content. Looks like a great place to work.

hey bob - hillary johnson is out in new york - you might be thinking of wendy schnieder. she used to work at smart and runs/owns coney island. my very first studio experience was with her in her basement and an MS16 in like 1995.

http://www.hillaryjohnson.com/
http://www.coneyislandrocks.com

also, lesley fogle is a really good engineer in town here that i've workled with. rumor has is that it's her voice you hear on the playstation commercials too.

http://www.hearnoevil.us/ is lesely's site that appears to be down right now.

also, sylvia massey....