Benedict 1
Justin Benedict Jacqueline Lambiase JOUR 16103 12/8/15
Gender in EDM Music Festival Promotional Videos
Introduction: Music scenes are truly “contexts in which clusters of producers, musicians, and fans collectively share their common musical tastes and collectively distinguish themselves from others” (Bennet 2004, p. 1). Over the last two decades, Electronic Dance Music, or EDM has exploded as a new mega-genre of music comprised of many sub-genres such as techno, trance, house, brum & bass, and dubstep. EDM has developed a distinct subculture due to its popularity at nightclubs, raves, and music festivals. This subculture has fallen under a lot of criticism in recent years due to the belief that it promotes the use and abuse of party and club drugs as well as promotes heightened sexuality in the youth. EDM media, reflective of this subculture, often reinforces stereotypical gender roles, as well as the objectification of women. This issue in not a new one, brought about by the rise of EDM. There is, and has been a clearly “institutionalized sexism that persists in media representations”, primarily depicting women as “sexual and subordinate” (Wallis 2010, p. 3). In fact, “One of the most pervasive themes of contemporary media is the theme that an attractive appearance and sexy body are among the most important goals, young people, especially women, can achieve” (Aubrey 2011, p. 476). Such