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Women in the ska scene

So, after about 10 years, I've noticed there hasn't been many women in the ska scene. Why is it that women who regularly go to shows make up such a small minority?

Is it like this in your area? If so, why do you think this is?

Do you disagree?

Discuss!!

Tags: ladies, rudegirls, scene, ska, subcultures, women

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Skibz McCullock on April 24, 2008 at 6:28pm: Crowd-wise, I've never noticed that much of a problem. The guy-to-girl ratio is usually 60/40, give or take. Strangely, I always see more women at the trad shows than at ska-punk shows...hmm...However, I'm not the kind of person who can analyze why ska would attract certain genders and minorities over others, so I have no clue.

If you're talking about female musicians/vocalists, there's a fair amount of them out there, both in trad and punk. The amount of men outnumber them, yes, but you can't blame just ska for that; about every genre suffers from a lack of female musicians. Music just happens to be, unfortunately, a male-dominated industry.

There was a discussion on this a while back, entitled 'Women in Contemporary Ska'. Maybe there's something in there.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by SKA E36 on May 1, 2008 at 4:06am

There are women at the Ska shows?!?! hehe.

I'm in San Diego, which is one of the few places in the world where men greatly outnumber women (thanks, ARMY/NAVY/Marines)... and we get a few chicas in the ska shows, but the social scenes in SD make women very defensive. The men here are quite blunt and generally lack chivalrous ideals, so it's a hunter/prey scene.
Fortunately, I think the ska scene allows for a lot less than that since it's very traditional and tends to draw a more chivalrous and respectful crowd.
One place to look... Tijuana!! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, ska is alive in Mexico. The Mexican rude boys, gutter punks and skins are some of THE nicest and welcoming people I've ever met in my life. I'll be down there this coming Friday, May 9, 2008 to watch a friend's band (Tijuana Skankin' Lions) play with The Aggrolites @ BoxUnderground !!! Down there we have venues like the Berlin Bar (don't say Porky's) where there are semi-frequent ska nights and women can dance with men and not be prayed upon.

Stay Oi!

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Permalink Reply by Foghorn Leghorn on May 5, 2008 at 3:09am: There are plenty of girls who come to ska show in Australia. Plus I put on a ska show in Brisbane, Queensland with 4 ska bands. Every band had a female member. There are plenty of girls in bands here.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Buddha Bomb on May 5, 2008 at 6:00pm: There's lots of ska chicks out here in Riverside, I'd say the crowd is a pretty equal ratio. As far as on stage goes, there's plenty of chicks, but the dudes out number them without question. Our band is a good example, it's a 1 to 6 ratio! Strange how it works that way, huh?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by SkaBanana on May 6, 2008 at 1:12pm: Oh man! I' gonna tell you guys a funny story. Two nights ago, I was watching The Slackers. This girl got on stage and started rubbing her ass on Victor. Everyone stopped skanking when she did this so she got off stage. Then everyone started skanking again. XD; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by TheCheat2189 on May 6, 2008 at 2:38pm: As it's been said before, the music industry is usually male-dominated. My ska band had a female trumpeter for awhile, but we've always had more guys in the band. They're just a lot easier to find. As for the ska scene in Virginia Beach, there aren't many girls who go to shows. A few, but not many. I'd say it's about a 70-30 ratio.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Miss Upsetter on May 9, 2008 at 1:25am: this is what I see most girls in attendance doing at ska shows. Doing stupid shit like this. Or, they're with their boyfriend and acting like they'd much rather be pulling their own teeth....

How many girls do you guys know who regularly go to shows?
Who are active in the ska scene & subculture?
That's what I was really getting to.....not just "girls at shows".; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Juan V. on May 13, 2008 at 11:19pm: I see some girls at ska shows who go skanking every weekend. They are really into the scene too, more than many dudes that go. Its like 10 girls out of every other girl though, well at least from what I have noticed.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by kidstablegirl on May 28, 2008 at 6:10am: Well, it's the same in my area too.
A lot of the rudies are guys these days.
But I've been getting some female friends into the scene slowly but surely.
Hopefully we can change the lack of women.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Big Mondo on June 3, 2008 at 8:32pm: what riverside needs is a female fronted traditional ska and/or reggae band.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Alan A. A. on June 16, 2008 at 1:45am: I actually brought my girlfriend to a slackers/pietasters show here in NYC a week ago. She really enjoyed it and we both were in the skanking pits all evening. I also got a friend, who is female, into ska by bringing her to a Suburban Legends show. So add two girls to the NYC scene, ha ha.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mimi on August 28, 2008 at 1:10am: Well I was in Brite Spot (www.myspace.com/britespotcollective)
which died because of a lot of bullshit..

I'm looking for people that are actually committed to holdin down with the band.
It got tough booking all the shows, promoting, networking pretty much all by myself.

So if anyone wants to play TRADITIONAL SKA...not 3rd wave....
hit me up

msmimingo@gmail.com

I'm currently playing for Police and Thieves but thats soul.

www.myspace.com/policeandthievesla

oh and in terms of females active in the "Ska" scene..check out
Janette Sotelo. She runs LA Skasifieds.
she runs this site that lists all the ska shows in the l.a. area i think oc and some riverside too.

http://www.myspace.com/laskasifieds

great source for shows.; ▶ Reply to This