That’s why women’s perspective is so necessary in the club culture for celebrating together
I move to the beat. All around me are my friends, who do the same and celebrate in a completely boisterous manner. We put our drinks aside because they only bother us when we were dancing. At the end of a night of great music and respectful, interesting people, we walk home on a balmy summer night. A nice idea, isn’t it?
In the club, FLINTA become targets
The reality for FLINTA (the acronym stands for women, lesbian, intersex, non-binary, trans* and agender people) like me is different. Far too many have had experiences of unwanted touching and clumsy hit-ups, including knockout drops, needle spiking and sexual assault. Whoever is in the club as a FLINTA becomes a target. This is also the result of the research of “Sexism Free Night”, a European project involving organizers, NGOs and a university, which aims to create a safer and more equal environment in nightlife. The online survey found that 46.5 percent of women and 30 percent of transgender and non-binary people said they had experienced some form of sexual violence “always” or “very often” when out at night, compared to 12.4 percent of men.
All this is nothing new and just another piece of the jigsaw puzzle of the XXL problems of our patriarchal society. After all, clubs are still male-dominated spaces, both on the dance floor and behind the scenes. The fact that this fact leads to uncomfortable situations for FLINTA is the result of toxic masculinity. What is meant by this term is sticking to traditional “male” patterns of thought and behavior, which results in aggressive and dominant behavior as well as emotional detachment. Organisers, bouncers, selectors, bookers – and DJs. In most cases, these are men. Sexism is therefore a structural problem in the entire music industry and not only in relation to club culture and DJing – this is also the opinion of 57 percent of the industry experts.
FLINTA’s perspective is good for the club culture
But especially when it comes to the well-being of female and non-binary guests, the perspective of FLINTA is not only good – their representation in the entire club culture should be a matter of course. Instead: About half, 53 percent, of women and gender minority representatives in the music industry believe that cis men are better paid in the music industry than others. As DJs or producers, FLINTA are not in equal competition with their male colleagues. Discrimination in booking still means that many party events such as festivals have an almost exclusively male line-up. Female acts made up just 26.9 percent of the 2020/2021 lineup, 1.3 percent of all acts surveyed are non-binary and 9.1 percent are mixed – compared to 59.1 percent male acts. And not all because there are no female artists or DJs. But because the male booker chooses the male DJs or simply doesn’t know any FLINTA artists. After all, festivals with female artistic directors also have a higher proportion of female acts.
That’s why it’s so important that FLINTA and other gender minorities are present in all areas of club culture – whether as a DJ, booking or organizer. That has at least partially changed. DJ greats like Peggy Gou, Amelie Lens or Nina Kraviz are revolutionizing the club scene. They DJ at the biggest festivals like Tomorrowland or Coachella and play in the most popular clubs. Charlotte de Witte, one of the most famous DJs in the techno scene, released her first EP in 2013 under the male pseudonym “Raving George”. With growing success, however, she put it down: “I no longer felt the need to hide behind a male alter ego. I’m a woman who plays and produces music, and I’m damn proud of it,” she said in an interview with “xlr8r”.