Thursday, January 04, 2018
Lady Roadie: Touring life on the tech crew (when you don’t look like the other boys!)
RocknRoll Yogi: My name is Becky Pell and I am an anomaly. I’m a sound engineer, and I’m a woman. It’s an unusual combination, but I’m rarely conscious of it until someone points it out. Usually the conversation goes something like: ‘wow, a female engineer, you don’t see that very often’. Me: ‘No, there aren’t many of us’. Them: ‘Why is that?’ Well I have to confess ignorance; as I am one, I’m kind of the wrong person to ask! Why are we the unicorns of the touring world? And what’s life like as a woman on the road?
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I know I am discouraged from saying what I want to do, but I’m going to do it anyway. I want to do exactly what is said in this article. I am fascinated and excited by the touring world and being a sound engineer for musicians playing all over the country and all over the world would be absolutely thrilling, but I have to admit, sometimes the lack of woman in this industry is somewhat daunting. But this article puts it very well, your position as a woman is only as daunting as you let it be. This woman let it motivate her. And that is the attitude that I want to learn to carry. There are not many woman sound engineers let alone those who tour, I whish I would see more, why can’t I be the one to add more. Articles like this is exactly what we need to be seeing right now. As a young woman pushing to enter the industry it is empowering to read articles about strong woman who have made it and their struggles and how they face them head on and overcome. Talking about the misogyny and sexism faced in the workplace is important we can’t glaze over it any longer, as they were saying at The Golden Globes “Time’s up!”, but we also need to hear about how woman are overcoming and this article does exactly that. It inspires woman and tells them that yes, this is a male dominated industry, and we might face some issues, but we can overcome and you can be that one more woman in the industry to change the ratio and pave a way for the future .
I absolutely loved this article. Her brazen truth felt relatable to almost any woman who's spent some time backstage. Although I have not worked as a sound engineer, I've worked as an assistant stage manager and felt similarly during my time at those theatres. One of my favorite mentions in her article was that if you tried to keep track of every inappropriate or rude thing people say, you'd be driven mad. She says, "You just need to know how to dish it back". I've often found that the people who make the comments that are most uncomfortable for us are usually the people who are most impressed/threatened by your work. Just because you can do your job while looking or smelling good doesn't mean you don't have the "grit" of those men who look like they've been castaway. I had a similar conversation with a managing director of my city's theatre. We were discussing the fact that being in a male-driven environment doesn't mean you need to adopt masculine habits or diminish your femininity, but often times we have to strategically monitor how we behave if the audience we cater to does care about those traits. Her explanation of how she is authoritative without having to emulate traits of a man was something that I will definitely keep with me. In total, I am completely empowered and inspired by this article and hope that more women discuss about there experiences in theatre as well as other predominantly masculine fields.
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