rostraqueen Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Hi Everyone My name is Rosie, I'm in my 3rd year studying theatre & performance technology and I am writing my final research paper on women working in live entertainment and would very much like you all to help me with my research by doing a survey! It is just 10 questions and they all have comment boxes where you can write as little or as much as you want.Anyway, if I get enough replies, I will post the results up on here so you can see where things ended up! If you're male, do this survey please: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5KBQGNBIf you're female, this one's for you: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7MNPJD8 Also, if any of you would like to talk to me a bit more about your experiences or thoughts I'd love to hear from you, so please do get in contact by emailing me at rosie.burgess@me.com Hope to hear from you soon!Many thanks,Rosie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seano Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 I am writing my final research paper on women working in live entertainment Your thread title says "women working in theatre", do you mean live entertainment or theatre only? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ynot Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Sorry, Rosie, I did start to do the survey but I have to be honest and say that I don't feel that this is really a subject that these days is particularly valid. I know many male techs, and a fair number of females too, both in the amateur and professional worlds, and can't say that gender has in any way influenced who I work with, or who I engage for any particular role around a stage. I simply fit the people available to the roles that need doing. These days I don't believe discrimination is a major problem - certainly not as big an issue as some focus groups would have us believe at times. And again, being bluntly honest, trying to compile a worthwhile final paper on this is going to tax you a little... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rostraqueen Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 Well thank you for attempting the survey and for your feedback. I completely see your point, I am in the early stages of research and I may well discover that there is little to write about so I will have to wait and see. However, I've had good responses so far and I find the answers people give, particularly the free comments, to be very interesting to me - whether I can write them up and present them in a way that is interesting to others as well is yet to be seen.I am not aiming to show that women are discriminated against in the slightest, as I do not believe this to be true for the majority of the time. I merely wish to explore other people's attitudes, preconceptions and expectations as well as to look at whether there has been an increase in women going into more technical lines of work over the years...and things like that. At the moment, I am focussing on the things I mention in the survey as I hope it will point me in the direction of where to go next with my research or if there is actually nothing in it and I should research something else entirely. I hope this clears things up a little bit for you and helps you to understand why I wanted to do the survey as a starting point. As for the theatre vs. live entertainment, I did mean all live entertainment, rather than just theatre, I just didn't want the title of the post to be too lengthy! So apologies for the confusion, I shall attempt to change it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth A Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Generally in theatre, I have found over touring the past few years for it to be quite neutral now. I've been to theatres where the entire of the crew are male, entire of the crew are female, totally mixed. I've had male and females in SM, Chief Lx roles etc. The only time I really know of a case of discrimination was actually against a friend who I lost contact with sadly. She lost her PT teaching post in a un-namable teaching establishment up north because she got pregnant. . . Don't know the full facts but when she told them she was pregnant, she lost her job basically. I know she was going to claim for unfair dismissal. Though as I mention this wasn't in a real theatre, but in a performing arts educational facility. . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 I tend to agree that the discrimination has stopped, although for practical purposes, some genders do seem more suitable for physical attributes. So now gender is really important for quite straightforward things like costume work where a big frame won't fit the costume, or where the job involves body weight - like the flyman example. The actual work is now more linked in most areas to skill, personality and usefulness. I've seen venues shift towards a much better balance, and once there, they seem to progress by simple ability and I don't think sex matters a jot. When I was a teacher, I was a kind of anti-sexist because I found that the girls often had a sexist upbringing, so they'd be the dancers - when many of them showed that they were better able to 'think' than their male, more hung-ho colleagues. The boys would steam in when something 'technical' was required, but the girls would stop, think, and then do the right thing - leaving the boys in a mess because their hastily conceived plans fell apart. When they went to uni, many of these people would sign up to do the boys roles, and would often get better results. I suspect that the dance and acting stuff these people experienced gave them an advantage - they appreciate other disciplines, but mainly, it's aesthetics. Sound and lighting are often carried out by leatherman belted black wearing technical people who understand the technology, but not the application. The exact moment to press the button, or the slight shift in colour to bring out a costume's contrast. Holding a cue just a fraction to make it fit, or in the tech making subtle changes to improve the product. Some fellas can do this, but many need these things provided by somebody else. Things like lighting chases that are in opposition to the tempo of the music instead of supporting it. I suspect that gradually, apart from those jobs that need a 17 stone musclebound person, we may even find the discrimination runs the other way. I've also noted on crews that have more than one female that swearing, farting and burping are less common - something I quite like too. During the transitional period, the girls who wanted to blend with the bigger crews often seemed to have to become more blokey. Now, they're back to being girls. The fellas are becoming used to them, and that, I suspect was the real problem originally - girls were a novelty. Now that has worn off, we're up and running. In one theatre I know, one of the girls got promoted to the Technical Manager - general consensus was that she deserved it, and it caused no issues at all, from what I could see. Even though many of the fellas also applied. As a subject for your paper, I think you've missed the boat - in theatre it's passed. In live events, maybe not so ..... yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Pearce Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Perhaps the transition in theatre has been smoother as there have always been women backstage working in wardrobe, chaperoning etc?Lets not forget that the person who really created the role of lighting designer was a woman, and this was in the 50s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhutch Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 I have filled out the survay. My experience is based on working for four years in our students union (Loughborough) as a member of the venue crew working mainly in lighting and rigging for both internal and external events. There where around 20 staff at any one point of which typically 2/3 where female. It might be that our relativly young age (circa 20-25) had a marginally effect but I found men and women worked along side in simular roles without prejudice.My degree was in Mechanical engineering and I now work as a design engineer for a major construction equipment manufactuer and find that the ratios and working practices are simular if not worse. If anything the women get preferential treatment and typically having 'bucked the trend' if you like to become an engineer are more driven to success than there male counterparts. Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GR1 Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 So, J Pearce, who is the woman you are crediting with creating the role of lighting desgner in the 1950's? By my reckoning simultaneous activity was breaking out in the USA, UK and Europe by a small group of practitioners - there were men and women involved from the start. Do tell ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seano Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 As a subject for your paper, I think you've missed the boat - in theatre it's passed. In live events, maybe not so ..... yet. Regarding theatre, I wouldn't be so sure. Regarding live events more generally, definitely not so in my experience. I'll have a bash at filling it in now that I know its not just theatre that Rosie is interested in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitlane Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 So, J Pearce, who is the woman you are crediting with creating the role of lighting desgner in the 1950's? By my reckoning simultaneous activity was breaking out in the USA, UK and Europe by a small group of practitioners - there were men and women involved from the start. Do tell ...... I would guess he is referring to Tharon Musser, although Jean Rosenthal and Peggy Clark (amongst others) might fit the description. I think the important message is that, despite what many people might think, women were involved in key roles in the early development of our trade. Trying to identify any individual as the creator of the role of lighting designer is almost certainly futile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Pearce Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 I had Jean Rosenthal in mind, as someone who worked hard to push lighting from see the performers with some creative ideas from the director to a proper art form. No, she wasn't the only one doing it, but she is widely credited as the first person to hold a broadway credit as LD, though I haven't yet found a reliable source.Kit's suggestions reinforce that really theatre tech hasn't been a male only zone even from the start. In the world of production, I think it has been a more male only zone, but that things are evening out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brainwave-generator Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 In the world of production, I think it has been a more male only zone, but that things are evening out. Maybe in theatre, but you go into a live event production office this week and you will not be walking into a sausage factory I can assure you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rostraqueen Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 Thank you everyone for your valuable input so far! To keep you updated, the results up to now and open comments have suggested that not everyone comes across differences between genders while working in the industry, but that some people have. They mainly relate to specific experiences that highlight the gender differences rather than ongoing discrimination. It's great to hear peoples' personal experiences. Keep it up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albatross Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 While filling out the survey I had a bit of time to think on some of the questions.While I don't see any gender discrimination on the job, I do believe there is some prior to employment.Mostly around the politically correct world we live in, and the potential for legal issues.i.e. it's rare for there to be cases of sexual discrimination by a man against a women, but not the other way around; so Lets not open up the opportunity in the first place by avoiding a female on the job. Mind you I did get my back up recently when a tech spec came across my desk asking specifically for a female ASM to assist on a show. My response was along the lines of 'why can't a guy do that?'. There is a lot of discrimination and undercurrent of 'guilty before proven innocent' against men especially in relation to working with children! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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