Negotiating Boy Culture:
Young Women Working in College Radio
Abstract
Over the last two decades college radio has become commodified in various
ways, resulting in two identifiable trends at specific college stations:
standardization and professionalization. This essay suggests that these two
trends have affected feminist cultural production by creating an andocentric
climate, silencing young women at college radio stations. Relying primarily on
interviews with women working at four different college stations in the US, and
applying a feminist political economic theoretical framework, this essay
highlights and interprets their experiences working in college radio. Throughout
the course of this project, the young women interviewed demonstrated two
distinct reactions to commodification occurring at these stations. These reactions
are significant because they point to an important legacy of Riot Grrrl. Women
who self identified as having a Riot Grrrl feminist sensibility responded in more
nuanced, informed and critical ways than women who did not claim such an
identity.