Women at CU-Boulder's Radio 1190

At most of the stations where I've DJed I've felt like there weren't as many female DJs and staff members as there should be. But, recently, I'm noticing more and more gals getting involved with college radio, which is awesome. An article yesterday in the Denver Women's Examiner profiles a whole bunch of female DJs from University of Colorado-Boulder's radio station Radio 1190 (KVCU-AM Boulder). It's an excellent article covering some interesting and thoughtful women and their perspectives about radio and the state of women in the music biz. On the whole the women seem very optimistic about the industry and don't seem to be as concerned about sexism as some of their predecessors may have been. One DJ states:

"I think that in the independent music industry women are on the same level as men. There's none of the sexism/objectification that seems to occur in the mainstream music industry. When I dealt with the business side of the music industry as the promo assistant, there were just as many females as males that I worked with and they were equally empowered. I guess when I used to think of the classic image of a music snob it was usually a guy with lots of records, and when I first came to the station, the staff really was dominated by males. Now there are lots of female managers around and my image of someone who's really into music doesn't depend on their gender."

Another says:

"I think women in the music industry are great. I was inspired to learn bass after watching Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth totally rock out. I also wanted to start a band when I saw Sleater-Kinney. Although I didn't stick with the bass, and I'm therefore very far from starting a band, I think powerful women musicians are essential in music."

Do you agree that the "indie" scene is more respectful of women and more egalitarian than "corporate" music and radio? Are there many women at your college radio station? Are you a woman involved with college radio? If so, have you ever encountered sexist attitudes towards women at your station?

By the way, Radio 1190 is doing an all-vinyl weekend THIS weekend. According to their website:

"Radio 1190 will be spinning all Memorial Day weekend with three consecutive Vinyl Days. If you've never heard one, that's when we play all our music off records and on turntables. Purists say you can hear the difference between vinyl and digital, we just know it sounds great. The glory of vinyl music, new and old, complete with skips and pops! Starting Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. with Chunk of Funk and continuing through Sunday and Monday, Memorial Day, it's a Vinyl Memorial Day Weekend!"

Wow. Any station that plays LOTS of vinyl is a hero in my book. They also have a renowned underground hip hop show called Basementalism.