Dancewhores, Sisterdjs, and Pinknoises
6
connected with women and private domestic spaces (Cohen, 1997, as cited in McLeod,
forthcoming).
EDM is also gendered male. Comparable to rock, hip-hop also has obvious ties to the street due
to its roots in the Bronx. The discourses of many EDM subgenres have created similar histories.
A case in point is techno, which came out of Detroit in the late 1980s. Rarely withheld from its
legend is the notion that the creation of techno was the response of three young black men to the
sea of urban decay in which they were engrossed in their youth. Frequent references are made to
Detroit’s "post-industrial condition" in histories of techno, such as Sicko’s (1999)Techno Rebels.
Similarly, it is the underground, gay clubs of Chicago, such as The Warehouse that are credited
with inventing house music in 1985. The originating subgenres of EDM were associated with
the street and underground culture from the very beginning.
However, in addition to street associations, EDM is further masculinized via its direct
connections to technology. Women are increasingly mastering traditional instruments and
successfully conquering genres that use them such as country and rock. Unlike the
instrumentation typically used in the aforementioned genres, EDM is deeply rooted in
technology. Within EDM culture it can be argued that technology is still overwhelmingly
associated with masculinity. For instance, only men appear in advertisements for equipment. A
recent ad for Vestax PDX-2000 turntables and the PMC-07PRO mixer features the high profile
DJ known internationally as Mixmaster Mike. The caption reads, "Mixmaster Mike separates the
men from the boys…and the tools from the toys." In other words, individuals who excel in the
EDM are unquestionably male. Further, the ad gives the impression that it is only these highly
skilled men who have the capacity to recognize good equipment or DJ tools.
Convention