Did you know that women are people who sometimes make and/or produce music? I know, shocking, but it's a thing! As a woman in a band, I've heard my fair share of patronizing, dismissive or creepy comments from men who just can't wrap their heads around women (or as we are more commonly called in this sphere, "girls") making music. Prowess with instruments or sound equipment in particular seems to be a cause of befuddlement.
My band, Patti Cake, is making a zine for our show this Thursday at the Silver Dollar in Toronto. Since our songwriter, lead singer and rhythm guitarist Kritty Uranowski is a counsellor at Girls Rock Camp and I am mostly always thinking about feminism (i.e. ALL THE DAMNED TIME), I decided to submit a collection of crowdsourced "things people say to women musicians" for the zine. I tweeted this:
Here's a sampling of the responses I got. Note the frequency with which the word "girls/girl" appears. Also, music store employees? PLEASE DO BETTER.
"Girls can't play bass because they're not technical."
Full list of quotes
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