Well well well, what a stir the Triple J Hottest 100 Countdown is causing. From articles in the mainstream press: The Age, through to more niche mags: lip magazine, popular bloggers: Mia Freedman, and Triple J itself, people are all a buzz with basically half the population missing from the list.
Considering my vote included Janis Joplin, PJ Harvey, Nina Simone and the Pixies, I can at least say I did my bit for the gals. Not that it mattered much.
What I'd love to see is an analysis of the voter's demographics. With over 500,000 votes, this represents a pretty good sample of people from which at least some interesting threads could be found. For instance, I'd like to know the ratio of male to female voters, and the age spread. I'd like to know how many of the 13,000 songs Triple J had listed to choose from involved women, and the ratio of airtime given to male versus female artists. And that's just for starters.
What I would do with all this information is explore how we can use what we know to bring women out of the shadows and back up the top of 'serious' musicians when they deserve to be there.
It really interests me that a poll run by the primary youth/alternative radio station of Australia, which you think would have a more 'feminist leaning' audience (based on stereotypes of course) than most, can have such distressing results.
And by distressing, I mean distressing in the most dramatic of ways; because ladies, we've got a long way to go in this world if the report I'm writing on women's empowerment (albeit in Bangladesh) is anything to go by.
In the mean time I'll be spending my evening putting together a new 'ladies only' playlist on my iPod. Artists to be included:
PJ Harvey, Patti Smith, Tori Amos, The Breeders, Amy Whinehouse, Throwing Muses, Lilly Allen, The Cocteau Twins, Soko, Kate Nash, Ida Maria, Adele, Nina Simone, Janis Joplin, Clare Bowditch & Feeding Set, Martha Wainright, Angus & Julia Stone, Emiliana Torrini, Bridezilla, The Grates, Camera Obscura, Little Birdy, Chairlift, The Dresden Dolls, Neko Case........
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
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1 comment:
Yet another non-issue from the hairy lesbian brigade.
You are right of course - this list is meaningless without a demographic breakdown, which would be interesting to know - I asked myself the same question as the list was being revealed over the weekend. But even if known the list is still meaningless. It is just a list of favourite songs, and says as much about our culture as the paucity of male hairdressers, female butchers, male day care staff, and female firefighters.
I too noticed the absence of Janis Joplin, and question the taste of the demographic that omits her from the greatest songs of all time, and only gives Johnny Cash one song!
But it is not really an issue if the list contains only guys. Maybe they were all right-handed? Maybe there were no Capricorns? There were no Africans, but I cannot hear the call going out we are all racists. What's so special about chicks?
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