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IS DANCE MUSIC SEXIST?
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A few weeks ago, Ben UFO, co-founder of Hessle Audio, commented on sexism in dance music via Twitter: "Wouldn't it be rad if that guy on Youtube who posts 'UK Bass' rips alongside pictures of conventionally attractive indie girls just stopped?" He called it the, "American Apparel-isation of UK post-future garage". (see above American Apparel advert)
His comments came around the same time as Scuba commented on sexist comments made on a Guardian feature. The Guardian reader posted: "The more I think about it feminism is not so much an ideology as a minority of women attempting to assert control over other women." Scuba replied on Twitter saying, "Comments on the Guardian usually infuriate me, but this one was good".
In response, journalist Angus Finlayson has written a feature for Quietus, questioning the misogyny in dance music circles. He wonders how "implicit disdain for women could sit comfortably alongside a love for underground dance music" when "politics at the core of dance music culture lean the opposite way: towards an ethos of equality and inclusion". But Angus Finlayson says that ethos is increasingly "forgotten about".
He says: "What happened to rave utopia? Is it fair to say that the 'dress to impress' ethos of UK Garage circa 2000 is inherently sexist? Or that Grime's macho energy and testosterone-fuelled lyrical acrobatics should be dismissed as illegitimate because it appeals largely to young men? Obviously not. But there has been a visible trend, in the UK and elsewhere, away from the unprecedented sense of unity that the dancefloor can provide."
What do you think? Is dance music becoming increasingly sexist? Let us know in the comments box below.
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