ProSoundWeb: I remember meeting Chez Stock for the first time. The first thing I noticed were the tattoos across her fingers spelling out “COMP” and “GATE.” I made a comment along the lines of “nice digital inserts” (I pun involuntarily) and, in spite of that, we had a nice conversation.
3 comments:
Please excuse my language, but this woman sounds like a badass. She is the kind of person that is stepping into a male dominated industry and is refusing to take shit from people that don’t think a woman can handle a job. Gender roles are constantly creating problems similar to Stock’s, but refusing to back down and being able to stand up for yourself and the knowledge you know you have is a very powerful thing. This woman has probably engineered shows that had less time and more instruments than anyone else that comes into the venues she says she works. I love that she says that she tries to work for female bands because by doing so, she is empowering more women beyond those in the sound industry by creating a large group of women that like to perform music. Essentially, what she is doing for the sound industry is what I would like to do for the lighting industry.
Wow. As a white male, the only time I've even come close to being discriminated is when someone makes a Holocaust joke (Which, to be absolutely clear, is never, under any circumstance, acceptable). I totally cannot believe when the author writes, “When I was audio crew chief on an arena tour, I was often one of the first people in the room each day, marking off points and shooting the room. I would have my hard hat on, gloves on, tool belt out, and, invariably, a stage hand would ask me if I needed directions to the production office or the merch area. I know back of house roadies have hard jobs that take a lot of skill, but the assumption that I, as a woman, am just doing a clerical (or more ‘stereotypical woman’s’) job is infuriating.” I can not imagine living in a world where it's assumed that I don't know what I'm doing in a job I was specifically hired to do. I find such behavior by others to be absolutely disgusting. Never, ever judge a book by its cover.
This woman seems like quite the powerful individual. I just wish that women in this industry didn’t have to be so adamant about not taking shit from people. If we could just treat them like other human beings with their own interests I think that would be great. I also really like her sound engineering related tattoos. I think that is a great way to show how interested in something you are. Personally I would not have gone with the knuckle tats, but to each their own. Her approach to find someone smarter than yourself and latch on seems like something that I can get behind. Her words of advice of “I also advise ‘newbies’ to ask questions but don’t be annoying – it’s a fine line that you have to figure out yourself” is incredibly applicable to me now, as a freshman at CMU. I hope that she keeps being badass.
Post a Comment