(idm) gender

From Philip Sherburne
Sent Tue, Feb 16th 1999, 07:24

(i can't believe i'm falling into this thread...)

> Your missing my point. Most 'IDM' events I've been to consist of
> elitist sweaty guys bobbing thier heads up and down staring intently at
> laptops while muttering about rare records. If somone is only passively
> interested in what's happening, then I doubt they'd find much value in it.
> Most of the women we know fall under this category. 

maybe it's the trainspotters (boys & girls) who are missing the point...
and the reduction of the idm "scene" to such a characterization as the
above that results in idiotic threads like this.

case in point (oh shit, i'm resorting to anecdote):  my girlfriend & i
went to see pole play here in san francisco.  my girlfriend, not
necessarily a huge idm or techno fan, was so blown away by the
performance (and he was playing a laptop) that she said something like
she could understand getting really frustrated at people that just
didn't "get it," because it was such an absorbing experience.  as far as
i'm concerned, gender doesn't have a damn thing to do with it.  openness
to aesthetic experience does.

tangent:  why do people get so hung up on laptop performances?  stop
looking at the stage, close your eyes, and let that bass rattle your
chest cavity.  oval was, performance-wise, one of the most boring
spectacles i've ever seen -- he played his laptop with one hand in his
pocket, fer chrissake -- but the music was as compelling as it gets. 
blew the records away, as far as i'm concerned (and i love my oval
records).

but now i'm just spouting...
p