The issue that stands in the way of this progress is that a significant amount of what some call advocacy is often actually tokenism . Rather than seeking to hire more women for the sake of creating change , the bare minimum is done to meet a certain public standing . Even so , some still question whether tokenism is really all that bad since it is still creating some change , regardless of its intentions . Well , King views it as a complete dismissal of one ’ s skill and experience level . “ I ’ ve always said , I don ’ t want to get a gig to fill some quota or to enable a musician / artist / band to get a grant because I am female . I want the gig because I ’ m a great engineer ,” she explains .
But on the other hand , there are truly instances where tokenism has provided those with limited access greater opportunities . Pangsaeng describes her own experience with tokenism as ‘ filling in a checkbox .’ “ It ’ s very possible that I got hired as a checkbox . But it worked . I got a job and met colleagues who were likely checkboxes as well . Even if the intentions were bad , it inspired people to keep doing it .”
Even Winston recalls several conversations held between panels and conferences where the topic of tokenism was thrown around and it was concluded as something not to dwell on . “ We put on a conference with sound designer Paula Fairfield from Game of Thrones and we got to talking about tokenism ,” recalls Winston . “ She had said , ‘ I don ’ t care if they ’ re hiring me because I ’ m a woman . I ’ m gonna go in there , I ’ m gonna kick some ass , and they ’ re gonna hire me again ,’ and that ’ s how I look at it . I think if you ’ re confident , it doesn ’ t matter why you ’ re hired . I don ’ t love that people have that intention , but that ’ s on them .”
The issue here is that tokenism does not promise women stability in their career . Not only is it harder to go further in one ’ s career when hired solely under tokenism , they are also the first to go when reducing staff . This was a harsh reality many were witness to when the pandemic shutdowns began . “ When COVID hit , I had an instance where I was in the hands of others , and they had to decide if I was valuable ,” recalls Pangsaeng . “ It became super obvious who was considered valuable , and who was not – really , the most blatant example of sexism and racism I encountered in the industry .”
Similarly , Rogers recalls a critical night after a male-dominated Grammys where ex-president of the recording academy , Neil Portnow , infamously commented that women need to “ step up .” “ I was at the Recording Academy meeting for the producers and engineers wing the next day ,” recalls Rogers . “ We sat around at that table just shaking our heads . I said , ‘ I ’ ve been stepping up for 40 years . It doesn ’ t always get you there and it ’ s really hard to step up when you keep getting pushed back down .’”
After all this reflection on what ’ s continually harming women in and entering the industry , it ’ s time we start asking ourselves , what feasible change can we strive towards ? First and foremost , women in the industry ask that there is a perspective shift .
“ The narrative is always like , ‘ It was hard , right ?’ and I would love it if for once that wasn ’ t the first expectation – that I must have faced so much bullshit to be here ,” says Pangsaeng . “ I think it really does scare people away thinking they ’ re going to face all this crazy , rampaging misogyny . The more we just continue to normalize the idea of women in the studio , it ’ s going to make a huge difference in how upcoming women engineers / producers view things .”
Things , of course , don ’ t end there . Susan Rogers believes changing the current perspective will require the help of the media . From films to news stories , women need to be rewarded for their achievements . Nowadays , most media fail to achieve this , either only portraying women ’ s horror stories in the industry or complete fluff pieces . “ Celebrating people ’ s victories is super important ,” explains Pangsaeng . “ But how is it done ? Is it waving a flag because a woman did it ? A lot of media where women ’ s work is highlighted , it ’ s not really about them as individuals . It ’ s just like , ‘ Look ! Girls can do shit !’ which is so close , but not quite there .”
In order for the industry to adapt and improve on a massive scale , we ’ ll also need to observe current successful models , and both support them as well as strive to replicate them . Winston ’ s non-profit organization , Women ’ s Audio Mission ( WAM ), is a perfect example that organizations should look towards on this matter . For 18 years , WAM provided the only recording studios in the world built and run entirely by women and gender-expansive folks . Their success can be noted in Northern California where practically every venue , recording studio , and convention centre now has a female producer or engineer trained by them – and people are starting to take notice as their dedication has even recently been rewarded with a million-dollar gift from McKenzie Scott , which will be put toward a national expansion effort .
But what exactly are they doing that ’ s so ground-breaking ? Well , it ’ s actually rather straightforward ! Winston describes their process as providing things they know work , like necessary training , support in a safe environment that connects women to trusted allies , networking opportunities , conferences that reach 800-plus women from around the world , mentors , and so forth . Of course , it doesn ’ t stop there . “ We ’ ve placed close to 1,000 women into this industry , but there ’ s plenty more advocacy to be done ,” Winston says . “ Getting into the Grammys , for one , and talking about their voting structure and their member structure and increasing the number of women , gender expansiveness , and people of colour .”
Each stride towards increasing representation , increasing recognition , increasing communication , and increasing education does make a difference . What doesn ’ t is continuing to simply comment on the state of things and expecting it to change . Of all the mistakes made when seeking change , expecting change to occur serendipitously is the most common and worst to make . Winston shares this sentiment , asking that we move our focus from putting out study after study and directing our attention and money to what actually works .
“ I ’ m so tired of more studies being done . Why don ’ t we instead spend the million dollars from the study on training girls , pushing them up into the industry , and getting people to hire them ? Put women in the control rooms and in production houses so that we are represented ,” says Winston . “ How can you expect the messages you ’ re pumping into the world to represent those groups , when 90 % of the people working on them aren ’ t going to even know what those messages should be like ? It ’ s politics . It ’ s absolute common sense . Yet , nobody wants to do it because it ’ s hard . How many times , in different ways , are we gonna say there ’ s not enough women ? How many times are we going to say performative things and not actually do anything ?”
Ultimately , obstacles are bound to continue to exist , but their presence shouldn ’ t keep us from fighting for change , big or small . “ Just the fact that you ’ re interested in changing things , is going to help somebody feel like they belong . Having these difficult conversations , like going to the Academy of Country Music and asking why there ’ s never been a woman engineer nominated makes things change . In one year , that was changed just by that one simple question ,” explains Winston .
Rather than dwelling on such hurdles and growing disheartened , seek out those who are equally invested in bringing about change . After all , one of the greatest catalysts for change is oneself . As Winston explains , “ It doesn ’ t matter where obstacles are coming from , you just need to find the folks that are willing to help you .”
Selina Setrakian a freelance writer and former Editorial Assistant at Professional Sound .
42 PROFESSIONAL SOUND