Stop saying there isn’t a strong female presence in dance music

Women and other marginalised groups are shaping the future of the electronic music industry. They’re rejecting the sexualized tropes they’ve been force-fed through commercial EDM culture, and redirecting the focus back to where it belongs: the music. Things like UMFANG’s Technofeminism showcase at Bossa Nova Civic Club, The Black Madonna’s DAPHNE programming and the rise of such artists as Charlotte de Witte, Avalon Emerson, Julia Govor, Octo Octa and Peggy Gou mark a perspective that is squaring up to the heteronormative ideals of electronic music and changing things for the better, DJ set by DJ set, party by party.

When these groups tackle matters of diversity in electronic music culture, the scene embraces the ethos of acceptance that lies at its roots. The work they’re doing is for the benefit of their communities but also the whole of dance music. Because in an ideal world, archaic gender divisions would not exist behind the turntables or on the dancefloor.

Check out The Black Madonna’s feature on the 20 most important women in electronic music here.

[Photo: Luke Dyson for Data Transmission]

Corinne Przybyslawski is a freelance writer. Follow her on Twitter