Deci-belles: Gender and Power in Sound Engineering for Popular Music in New Zealand

Abstract

This thesis is a study in gender relations in sound engineering for contemporary rock music in New Zealand. I contend that music audiences and music industry workers alike discursively construct sound engineering as a masculine activity. Men greatly outnumber women in the field of sound engineering, and because the occupation is vertically segregated by gender, men also occupy positions of authority. This thesis explores the problems women face navigating a male-dominated occupation, and the tactics they employ to establish themselves within the industry. Through semi-structured interview processes with both male and female sound engineers, I was able to identify key themes in their perspectives on their work. Women sound engineers face entry level and on-the-job gender discrimination. I argue that the technological tools they use are seen as being at odds with femininity. They persist despite this, fulfilling their desires for creative input into music. As part of a collaborative team in the production of local rock music, sound engineers are in the position to help shape its sound. The power exercised within music production is not equally accessible to women, and this is one factor among many which upholds gender inequality in the music industry.

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