Bridging the Digital Divide

Written just before International Women's Day.  The Utopia Festival coincided with the global event, to promote female participation in technology and electronic music.

Text by: Phoebe Yu

Edited by: Mike Lee and Kerry Hall

Published: February 22, 2011, The Source

Imagine a truly egalitarian society where anyone - man or woman - can stand on equal footing with each other.  It is a future where equality is not just a word to live up to but a word to live by.  This vision forms the basis of the Utopia Festival, an event that visualizes a world that takes a revolutionary leap away from traditional gender roles.

In today's seemingly progressive society, it may be hard to believe that there are still barriers to women's participation in certain industries.  "The technology field is still primarily dominated by men," said Irwin Oostindie, executive director for Vancouver's W2 Community Media Arts Centre.

It is not mere chance that the event coincides with International Women's Day, marking its 100th anniversary on March 8, with its theme 100 women, 100 artworks.  Planned in conjunction with this year's theme, W2's Utopia Festival on March 5 will feature workshops, a conference and an evening showcase of technology and electronic music.  All of this is geared towards women to provoke thought from a gendered angle.

W2 works on cultural and media projects about the future of technology and society.  The pervasiveness of technology provides ample opportunities for progress and development in gender equality issues.

"We want to break the digital divide," Oostindie said in an interview with The Source.  "We want to see more women create networks."  It is through these networks that women can be supported and encouraged to grow alongside people who share similar interests.

Oostindie said one of the reasons why there is a lack of female representation in the technology sector is because women do not see other women getting involved.

Maren Hancock, a.k.a. DJ Betti Forde, is a disc jockey and one of the curators of the festival. She agreed with Oostindie.  Although there has been an increase in the number of female DJs in the last 10 years, Hancock believes that there are still not enough women producers.

She reflected on her own 13-year career as a DJ and on her personal experiences more than a decade ago when there weren't as many female DJs as there are now.  She recalled that, back then, she was expected to do a lot of promotional work, while male DJs did not.

"It's because people...expect women to be the 'face' or to be performers, to attract audiences," Hancock said.

There are influential women in the field of electronic music, but their names and contributions have only recently been uncovered in contemporary music history.  Hancock cited Tara Rodgers and Peaches as examples, both leaders in their respective areas.

Rodgers, a.k.a. Analog Tara, founded Pink Noises, a webzine on women in electronic music.  Peaches, born Merrill Beth Nisker, is an accomplished Canadian and electronic musician and artist who lives in Germany.

Oostindie said that women have to know that electronics is not an exclusively male domain and that space has to be created for women to design their own future.

The Utopia Festival will have around 30 presenters and speakers and more than 1,000 attendees are expected.  This is the inaugural year of what W2 hopes will be an annual event.  The core focus for this year is electronic music, with five creative streams being presented: electro, hip hop, bass, electro-acoustic and live cinema.  The festival's goal is to empower women to carve out their own future in technology.