Negotiating Boy Culture -- 1
Over the last two decades college radio has become commodified in
various ways. The transformation of CMJ (College Music Journal) into a respected
publication, trade magazine Gavin’s inclusion of college radio in its charts, and
increased interest by university faculty have resulted in two identifiable trends
or by-products at specific college stations: standardization and
professionalization.
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This essay suggests that these by-products of
commodification have affected feminist cultural production by creating an
andocentric climate at college radio stations. More specifically, this essay
addresses the following research question: How does the commodification of
college radio affect feminists who use the medium to produce subversive
culture?
Relying foremost on interviews with women working at four different
college stations in the US, this essay highlights and interprets their experiences in
college radio. Since from the outset this research project was concerned with
feminist subcultural production, most women interviewed for this project, in
some way, self-identified as feminist. There are many types of feminists, and
feminism represents a contested terrain of ideas; therefore, a self-defined status
of "feminist" should not imply these women think uniformly about issues. Of the
ten women interviewed for this project, six identified themselves as being
aligned with a Riot Grrrl feminist sensibility. This point is a significant point
because the women who claimed a Riot Grrrl feminist sensibility responded in
more nuanced and informed ways than the women who did not claim such an
identity.
Convention