Yet you still think bonobos are monkeys.
Why aren't there more women on audiophile forums?
I've seen this question bandied about on forums frequently. Here's a long analysis of the subject matter. For those going to the beach and needing a read, the whole dissertation is available for download.
"Masculinity and gear fetishism in audio technology community discourse"
Annetts, Alex (2015)
Doctoral thesis, Anglia Ruskin University.
"This thesis is a study of audio technology community discourse and its historical features. I contend that the audio technology domain is fundamentally exclusive and hierarchically stratified, based on discursively inscribed prerequisites to participation and enunciation, notably a hegemonic masculine performance, gear fetishism and the articulation of technical knowledge.
I show that communities organised around audio technology, socially construct and perpetuate these features as components of their respective discourses. I expose all three elements to be rooted in culturally embedded gender stereotypes, dating back to a nineteenth century dichotomy of public and private space.
I present a deconstruction of the complex discursive performances of masculinity and offer opportunities for privileged masculine recordists to critically reflect upon their dominance and homogeneity within the domain as an original contribution to knowledge. In this endeavour, I investigate the emergence and development of exclusive tropes as components of audio technology culture, and demonstrate how they continue to be perpetuated in the face of both social and technological developments that offer possibilities to destratify the community hierarchy and enunciative function.
My methodology is based on a comparative discourse analysis of industry and academic texts, as well as the communities that surround and influence the construction of modern audio technology discourse. Case studies are conducted of two leading industry publications: Tape Op and Sound On Sound, and supplemented by an exploration of Women's Audio Mission. I combine these sources with interview material gathered from relevant industry professionals. In doing so, I observe how the audio technology community has maintained barriers to participation, often in the face of technological progress that offers supposed opportunities for democratisation. My work presents an argument against this notion, exposing the supposed democratisation as an illusion of accessibility and thus as mere massification."
https://arro.anglia.ac.uk/id/eprint/702044/
"Masculinity and gear fetishism in audio technology community discourse"
Annetts, Alex (2015)
Doctoral thesis, Anglia Ruskin University.
"This thesis is a study of audio technology community discourse and its historical features. I contend that the audio technology domain is fundamentally exclusive and hierarchically stratified, based on discursively inscribed prerequisites to participation and enunciation, notably a hegemonic masculine performance, gear fetishism and the articulation of technical knowledge.
I show that communities organised around audio technology, socially construct and perpetuate these features as components of their respective discourses. I expose all three elements to be rooted in culturally embedded gender stereotypes, dating back to a nineteenth century dichotomy of public and private space.
I present a deconstruction of the complex discursive performances of masculinity and offer opportunities for privileged masculine recordists to critically reflect upon their dominance and homogeneity within the domain as an original contribution to knowledge. In this endeavour, I investigate the emergence and development of exclusive tropes as components of audio technology culture, and demonstrate how they continue to be perpetuated in the face of both social and technological developments that offer possibilities to destratify the community hierarchy and enunciative function.
My methodology is based on a comparative discourse analysis of industry and academic texts, as well as the communities that surround and influence the construction of modern audio technology discourse. Case studies are conducted of two leading industry publications: Tape Op and Sound On Sound, and supplemented by an exploration of Women's Audio Mission. I combine these sources with interview material gathered from relevant industry professionals. In doing so, I observe how the audio technology community has maintained barriers to participation, often in the face of technological progress that offers supposed opportunities for democratisation. My work presents an argument against this notion, exposing the supposed democratisation as an illusion of accessibility and thus as mere massification."
https://arro.anglia.ac.uk/id/eprint/702044/
106 responses
Your "ex's" thesis was valid. The one posted by the OP is pure rubbish, no decent University worldwide would approve that as a dissertation - her advisor should be fired. This from someone who has trained over 30 doctoral students, 15 postdoctoral fellows, 12 surgical residents, and a handful of faculty. And started 2 biotechs with successful exits. |
This has been done on other forums before. As a sweeping generalisation (UK) women listen and enjoy the music a lot more and men listen for what is wrong a lot more. There is fetishism for the equipment collection in audiophile that attracts men in this field more than woman (in general) Men strive to make a collection and when they have it they then change it to make a new one... So the amp gets sold and they look for pre. Amp and power amp combos etc etc ad nauseum. But and as they say in Brazil... Its a big lifted cosmetically enhanced but.... If I go to one of my other forums which is on fountain pens there the chat is nearly 50/50 men and women... So what would I surmise? That pens are easier to collect, they are smaller 'treasures', they are linked to communication whether with others or themselves. But we shouldn't stress about this thesis, it is a valid one as is something like how princess Diana death galvanised the place of the Royal family compared to the globalisation of the economy. An ex of mine did the structure of domestic cat communities comparing urban, suburban and country cats and spent 2 years tracking and observing them. It was very interesting!!!! It is hard for students to find topics and this one is as valid as many others... Off to listen to my new Project rs2 cd box.... Its amazing |
Vapid and ghastly! Did anyone bother to look up the Anglia Ruskin University website? I've seen more mature Charter preschool websites. Not exactly Oxford. Seems our equivalent of Evergreen College outside Olympia where you invent your degree insuring non-hirablility. Room temperature IQ, pseudo intellectual dreck. But, thank you for sharing, I needed a diversion from from my orderly world. |
A submission in a contemporary political theory course claiming there are only two political "models," and that Marxism is one of them, would get an F and be laughed out of the room if read aloud. The only contemporary alternative to liberal democracy is strongman authoritarianism. Even in China and North Korea, no Marxists remain. Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders wasn't even nominated; authoritarian Donald Trump actually became president. Strongman dictatorships in Russia, Turkey, Hungary, Poland, Uzbekistan, and on and on. Islamic theocracies in Iran and Saudi Arabia (one Shi'a, one Sunni) where the name of Marx dare not be mentioned. So anyone today who's afraid of Big Bad Karl is trembling before a tombstone. Bet you didn't know that Marx corresponded regularly with Abe Lincoln during the Civil War, eh? Contemporary world-historic figures are like that: wishing to commune with fellow Large Minds. Like the world's nine other Most Consequential Political Thinkers, Marx left a long trail. Quel surprise. But not nearly as long as Plato or Aristotle or Plotinus. Read Plato's Gorgias and you'll swear you were reading yesterday's Congressional Record. |
The subject itself is political. Close it. Please. Until then the best post remains: Neo-Marxism has so skewed American politics that what most call "the right" is now mainstream America. What are the values of "the right"? Life, liberty, property, the pursuit of happiness, the right to be left alone. These are total mainstream American values. These are total mainstream universal human values. Universal everywhere that is but on the left. If you want to talk history, let’s talk history. Marx held that there are no truths, it is all about power, and therefore anyone who has anything took it by force and oppression. Marx held that the capitalists were the oppressors. Couple hundred million dead later, whole nations economically and spiritually impoverished, Marxism died a total failure. Until that is idiot French (but I repeat myself) philosophers reincarnated it as Neo-Marxism. No longer is it rich against poor. Now everyone is divided into every race, and gender, and ability, on and on endlessly on, all of them oppressed by the evil white man and his hateful patriarchy. If you want to think, intellectually or otherwise just think at all, mine is the model to emulate. The model of the Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, of Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jesus Christ. The model of the divinity of the individual, the sanctity of life, of free and open inquiry. The other model is the exact opposite. Choose wisely. |
Been away awhile writing about audio. I took a break and found this: "Girls aloud: gender issues in the hi-fi world #WAFgate" You folks have heard of John Darko, right? He's not some nobody dissertation writer that's easy to bash, at some school in England. So, he sees this phenomenon too. https://darko.audio/2014/12/girls-aloud-gender-issues-in-the-hi-fi-world/ In case you want to learn about the gals who put down their knitting to fight discrimination in audio, check this out: https://womensaudiomission.org/about/ or this one: https://soundgirls.org/about-us/ Or this, https://www.wfmt.com/2018/09/27/less-than-5-of-audio-engineers-are-women-this-is-my-story/ I care about this stuff because I want the world to be more open for my daughter. And others' daughters. And anyone of any gender. It matters to me. I know it makes some people mad to contemplate that, but that's just leading to their own heart attack, so I find the anger pretty amusing. Hopefully they won't follow another largely male tradition of shooting up their place of work or local high school. Try not to kick your dog if this stuff makes you mad. |
Wow this thread really went off the rails. Politics should not be part of an Audiophile forum. Yea I know politics is everywhere which is unfortunate. Snake oil is tossed around a lot on this forum but from my perspective politics has more snake oil than any other other topic I am aware of. I have always looked at the Audiogon forums as a source for information on the playback of music at the highest fidelity: this is our common ground . When we differ ie: solid state versus tubes or digital versus vinyl etc. healthy discourse is generated and it can get heated at times which is understandable but personally I don’t think politics belongs on this forum. |
I'm waiting for MC to start waving a piece of paper stating: " I have here in my hand a list of 205—a list of names that were made known ...."And end it with a link to this: https://orchidend.com/id-rather-be-a-russian-than-a-democrat-shirt?gclid=CjwKCAjwq7aGBhADEiwA6uGZp1_B7bYXp9OxWd06ikXG1Jik2y8BxVUnE7ZJnCoPqNenrVT05_MRLhoChdwQAvD_BwE&options=gildan-cotton-t-shirt-sport-grey&v=5d4fd4ae485b160001d5feb2 The conflicting positions would go right over his head. All the best, Nonoise |
"I cannot recall a time when the world seemed more tribal and divided than it is now."I seem to recall that Seward didn't fare all that well from the wrong end of a cane. It is, however, unfortunate that polar ideology has injected itself into what was once a pretty cool audio website. Being nice isn't that hard but choosing not to be angry over certain perceived sleights evidently must be. This thread, like all the others, will soon disappear when someone calls the wrong person a Marxist.... |
@hickamore, "Even in this often fractious forum, I'll bet 100% would reject communism,.." That's rather optimistic of you isn't it? Recent events suggest that the lure of communism has never seemed to burn so bright in the western world. Particularly amongst the young, some of whom may frequent here. I cannot recall politicians ever being so willing to cloak themselves in its drapery. I cannot recall a time when the world seemed more tribal and divided than it is now. The facade of politicians working for the people is the thing that's fading rapidly. They're working for someone all right, but it sure isn't me or you. |
@tomic601 Balance, or rather fostering mutual understanding, is my aim. Most disagreements boil down to the definition of terms and the reliability of information. Once these are cleared up (which almost never happens, but we need to try), all that remains to divide us are temperamental orientation and intellectual capacity. And hey! We're all different in those respects, and an open society welcomes us all. Even in this often fractious forum, I'll bet 100% would reject communism, fascism, cult-of-personality authoritarianism, and probably monarchy too. Meaning we have a great deal more in common than otherwise, which I consider a fine start. |
Speaking of the TSA, years ago, one progressive pundit was over in Europe and when preparing to board a flight, started to take off his shoes only to be stopped by their version of the TSA, who said, "You must be American, right?", laughed, and told him he could keep his shoes on. Don't forget those TSA appointments came with that ever changing color level of threat assessment any time Bush came under fire. It always went up when he got in trouble. Look! Squirrel! All the best, Nonoise |
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The progressive left embraces life, liberty, property, privacy, etc. -- The progressive left embraces life. That must be why they push no limits abortion and euthanasia. Liberty- that must be why they dictate every facet of private life right down to how many liters of water my toilet can flush. Property- that must be why they control rents and deny landlords the right to evict nonpaying tenants. Privacy- that must be why they search without warrant everyone even thinking of getting on a plane. Seriously, you pose and preen but your facts are hysterically wrong. Beyond wrong, opposite. The progressive left seeks to abolish life- their official view is humanity is a cancer on the planet. The progressive left seeks to abolish property: "You will own nothing and be happy" is their official policy goal. Tribalist? I just clearly explained with facts and logic the universal nature of the right, which truly is classical liberalism. My argument deserves better than your silly wordplay. Honestly, your rhetoric is pure rhetoric. Not a shred of serious reasoning anywhere. I find it a whole lot more honest and effective to write clearly. Try it some time. Here’s an idea- why not start with being honest with yourself? You think you know better, have a more elevated ethics, are above it all, and this entitles you to lord it over the rest of us. Just come out and say it. Free your mind. Then just maybe one day you will understand why you really have no right telling anyone else how to live. |
Nonoise, I say tribalism will play itself out because that is what happened after both World Wars. Tribalism caused the wars, and the wars showed the logical consequence of tribalism. Only 20 years passed between the Armistice and Hitler's wholesale invasions. We're now 76 years out from 1945, so it was inevitable that tribalism would recur. The difference -- we strongly believe -- is that since a WWIII would be unthinkable, universalism will necessarily prevail over its sole alternative: human self-annihilation. |
Overlooking its tedious Derridean framing, what the dissertation "finds" is nothing more than what most here know perfectly well and could better express in a few short plain English paragraphs. It simply exemplifies the current format for credentialing in sociology, a silly academic hoop to be jumped through, posing no threat to the larger culture.Unfortunately, this phenomenon is far from limited to academic sociology. It pervades the humanities and social sciences. I wonder how many doctoral dissertations there are on shoe fetishism. |
@hickamore, Thanks for the clarification and jogging of my memory (which seems to have found it's rabbits hole). And, thanks for pointing out how MC uses the language of the left in his attempts to use it against them, portraying himself as the holder of those values. He does that. A lot. I wish I could agree with you that this tribalism will play itself out, but current events point to something else. All the best, Nonoise |
MC, nonoise, nonoise: Hobbes's Leviathan is the state, not the church. And I capitalize "Colossus" only for emphasis. Although both Latin and Roman, the word has no special meaning with reference to the Church of Rome. That I know of. MC: But you are perfectly describing classical liberalism! The progressive left embraces life, liberty, property, privacy, etc. -- they simply understand the unfairness of laissez-faire capitalism, and seek to moderate its harsher consequences. Don't buy the Right media trick of pretending that something idiotic done on campus bespeaks an embrace of tribalism on the progressive left. We're historically aware enough to grasp that identitarianism is a cyclical thing which crosses political bounds. Our age happens to be suffering an outbreak at the moment. But liberalism will allow this tribalist foolishness to play out to its absurd logical end, as we know it shall and must, while gently stressing the universalist themes of cosmopolitanism, tolerance, human rights, and human equality before the law. |
Thanks @hickamore, I'll admit that I liberally used some shorthand in the alt right designation but it would take way too long to put it into perspective, and, I wouldn't be able to do as good a job as you did in describing it. On a similar note, I always thought it was referred to as Liviathan, and not Colussus. Maybe it was Burke and the critters in his timeframe that started to use that term. It could very well be that once religious domination started to wane a bit and politics sought some differentiation that that term was used to supplant the previous one. As for MC's clumsy take, I'll let his own words "own" him. All the best, Nonoise |
aewarren: funny post. Made me laugh and much appreciated. This topic (as always…only my personal opinion) is truly a “contemplate your navel” exercise. Have at it but your contemplation won’t explain or change anything. It is what it is. ‘And realize that the writer of this “dissertation” definitely sat in front of their computer with a Thesaurus desperately trying to find impressive erudite-sounding verbiage to replace the plain-speak of normal thought. Take that to the bank!😎 |
Neo-Marxism has so skewed American politics that what many call "the right" is now mainstream America. What are the values of "the right"? Life, liberty, property, the pursuit of happiness, the right to be left alone. These are total mainstream American values. These are total mainstream universal human values. Universal everywhere that is but on the left. If you want to talk history, let’s talk history. Marx held that there are no truths, it is all about power, and therefore anyone who has anything took it by force and oppression. Marx held that the capitalists were the oppressors. Couple hundred million dead later, whole nations economically and spiritually impoverished, Marxism died a total failure. Until that is idiot French (but I repeat myself) philosophers reincarnated it as Neo-Marxism. No longer is it rich against poor. Now everyone is divided into every race, and gender, and ability, on and on endlessly on, all of them oppressed by the evil white man and his hateful patriarchy. If you want to think, intellectually or otherwise just think at all, mine is the model to emulate. The model of the Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, of Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jesus Christ. The model of the divinity of the individual, the sanctity of life, of free and open inquiry. The other model is the exact opposite. Choose wisely. |
Despite their opposite moorings, Miller and nonoise are both models worthy of emulation. We should all aspire to think and to write with their clarity and precision, if without their amusing rancor, which they have both earned the right to deploy. That said, it's rather puny to claim no more than that the contemporary "alt right" has been pissed since the Enlightenment. Your transitory "alt right" didn't exist in the 17th Century. You're thinking of Colossus: the Roman Church, whose orthodoxies imposed cultural hegemony for a thousand years. Church intellectuals are just as well-educated as their secular counterparts, but unlike the latter, they repudiate Sartre's dictum that the intellectual's duty is "to think -- to think without restriction." The Church insists that you think WITH restriction, that is, when Aristotelian inquiry contradicts Church doctrine, doctrine must prevail. Aquinas taught Churchmen how to finesse this trick in the 13th Century, after being inconveniently confronted with the newly rediscovered works of Aristotle. |
@lalitk , Thanks for reposting what @dtrandall posted. It never fails to amaze me how all the alt right macho wannabes practice the cancel culture they project onto others. Preferring to outright censor them to make it appear there are fewer saner voices in this wilderness, gives them a false sense of security. All the best, Nonoise |
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And from the responses you’ve gotten, it goes a long way towards the premise that the alt right has been pissed ever since The Enlightenment. Listening to sexists arguing they're not sexist is like listening to a racist arguing they're not racist. This is most entertaining. How many here lead that Walter Mitty existence where they use the keyboard as their escape mechanism from that straight line they try to toe so hard all day? @nonoise @Millercarbon Listening to you two bloviate is thoroughly entertaining but tiresome. I think you Mr Nonoise live a Walter Mitty existence and sit at your keyboard waiting for Mr Millercarbon to chirp off. You Mr Millercarbon enjoy fanning the flames. At the end of the day most of us could care less what your political, moral (or lack there off), ethical agenda is. Most are here not to argue but to learn about audio equipments, tweets, tricks and snake oil, not your twisted outlook of the world or geo political nonsense. I have lurked this site for a while and you two are both pinheads at times. |
