The Sydney Feminists

Electronic dance music (EDM) emerged out of the disco scene of the seventies, and was later influenced by techno culture of the eighties and rave culture in the nineties. Dance music culture today retains aspects of the alternative politics of its predecessors, and asserts itself as a welcoming and progressive space, particularly with respect to gendered identities and sexual orientations.  It has been claimed that EDM culture is a potential feminist, or post-feminist space as it provides freedom from gender discrimination. However, there are limits to the progressive potential of EDM cultures, and continued experiences of gender discrimination among female Disc Jockey’s (DJs), suggest alternative politics may be more imagined than real. EDM is a broad term, and encompasses many forms of electronic dance music. Generally speaking it can be defined as any form of electronically produced music that is intended to be danced to, and is often performed by DJs in clubs, at parti...