PDA

View Full Version : Female Podcasters/Technologist



Linuxcooldude
11-24-2012, 11:58 AM
I am also open for guest appearances as well. I feel that there are not a lot of podcasters of color being recognized for what they are doing as well. Especially female podcasters.

Depends on what demographic your talking about. Since I deal mostly with Tech, statistically most viewers are male. Most females are just not into technology (talking indepth, the science behind it ) They just want to use it and not necessarily what makes it work. I am a co-host on Techwebcast and also have a female co-host on weekly. She also has her own show as well as co-host on another show.

As far as shows featuring people of color. They do exist and are quite popular. On Youtube ( Although not technically a podcast except maybe youtube live ) Such as TechWilson one & Soldier Knows Best. In fact they have sponsors and at one time or another on revision 3 network.

Another thing you have to look at are statistics. Since African Americans comprise roughly 12 percent of the American population. Out of those how many podcast, out of those-how many are female. Each time the group gets smaller and smaller. It should not be why these groups are not being featured, but what can they do to get noticed. Statistically they are simply a much smaller group compared to the collected whole.

Subject matter or what your show is based on also has a big factor as well. Is the show, podcast or blog on a very niche subject?

Jadori
11-24-2012, 03:24 PM
In the two examples that you gave once again it proved the point that they were Black Males. It is hard to name off a woman of color. Also you mentioned that women are not into technology and that is not true at all. It is that generalization is the reason why it is hard for women to still get into the industry and to be taken seriously if they are not a sex symbol. If you are woman like myself and you like to talk about technology you are still at times considered to be a weirdo. Although I agree with what you mentioned about people of color being noticed but then again for White personalities those hurdles are non-existent due to popularity and it has been common due to mainstream society as well.

I feel that the only way people of color can get that same exposure is by acting one of the two extremes: Either they have to "act White" or become the stereotype of their particular ethnic group. On my shows, I try my best to play different genres of music and also present these kind of issues openly and honestly.

Linuxcooldude
11-24-2012, 08:20 PM
In the two examples that you gave once again it proved the point that they were Black Males. It is hard to name off a woman of color. Also you mentioned that women are not into technology and that is not true at all. It is that generalization is the reason why it is hard for women to still get into the industry and to be taken seriously if they are not a sex symbol. If you are woman like myself and you like to talk about technology you are still at times considered to be a weirdo. Although I agree with what you mentioned about people of color being noticed but then again for White personalities those hurdles are non-existent due to popularity and it has been common due to mainstream society as well.

I feel that the only way people of color can get that same exposure is by acting one of the two extremes: Either they have to "act White" or become the stereotype of their particular ethnic group. On my shows, I try my best to play different genres of music and also present these kind of issues openly and honestly.

I said statistically ( most, not all ) females are not that interested/geared into technology, a lot of data supports that. On my Youtube tech channel my viewers are 88.1% are male & 11.9% are female. This comes directly from analytics so its accurate. There is also a big shortage of females in mathematics and hard sciences, including technology. As far as jobs females get into and college classes they attend. I don't generalize, I actually researched this myself to form my own opinion ( When I was discussing the topic of the wage gap ).

While I mentioned the two African Americans, they were a technology based channel. I don't watch much else. So it does not take in account any other fields where women and/or African American women might participate in.

Jadori
11-24-2012, 08:51 PM
I am curious to see where you got your research from in regards to the lack of women in technology. Also since you are only focusing on the analytics of your channel does not mean that women are not interested. I feel that the reason why there is a shortage of women in technology and science related fields is due to the fact that the imbalance is created after birth. Some girls are taught that wearing pink makes you feminine when the concept of feminism is a learned act. For me feminism becomes subjective according to the lady's interest. For example, I grew up around technology so I was influenced by it. Also, because technology is still a male-dominated industry it can make it harder for women to get in. They are being judged not on a equal playground. If you are not like Morgan Webb then you don't have a chance except if you are well-educated or you are made to be the exception.

Linuxcooldude
11-24-2012, 09:04 PM
Also, because technology is still a male-dominated industry it can make it harder for women to get in

But when you start looking into the types of college classes women take, it comes more apparent that its not necessarily that its harder for women to get into, but what they are generally more interested about.

http://chronicle.com/article/Rebooting-Recruiting-to-Get/135282/

This is only one of many articles, studies, surveys I've read about.

Jadori
11-24-2012, 10:03 PM
Thank you for the article reference but once again the article itself is a generalization. It is not accounting women like myself who has taken an interest in technology besides computer science. Part of the problem is like what the article mentioned is at the high school level and even before that there is a stereotyping that occurs between girls and boys. I feel that one of the key issues is regards to the parents. From time to time, I see a girl who is interested in technology only for her parents to criticize her for it. But if she has a brother who is interested then this is encouraged. This is the reason why I supported female-owned media because we are the generation that will help to change things. I am even working on creating a workshop that discusses these kind of issues.

Linuxcooldude
11-24-2012, 11:02 PM
I didn't see the article as generalizing, as It spoke primarily about the lack of women in the computer science field, but not outside that field. So it would not necessarily apply to you. But that was only one example that can lead to other sciences.


This is the reason why I supported female-owned media because we are the generation that will help to change things. I am even working on creating a workshop that discusses these kind of issues.

I believe in a gender-neutral media. Trying to change any perceived wrongs by one gender, now or in the past, it will inevitably swing too far the other way. Putting both genders on an even keel will help prevent that. That is what its about, right? Equality.


because we are the generation that will help to change things.

Things have always been changing, not just in this generation. Its just slow in getting there.

Jadori
11-24-2012, 11:12 PM
I personally believe that until more men would support women in new media then there would not be a need for female-owned media. With the way things are gender-neutral media is impossible. There are some issues that women are facing that some men do not put into considering. It is the Spike channel. It is designed for men even though they do have female viewers as well. But once again if you look at mainstream media especially in the video game industry it is still targeted for men. Although there are video games such as Final Fantasy that appeals to both genders. For example in the LGBT community transgendered people have faced a lot of issues due to the fact of the term transgendered. They are out casted in their own community because of trying to deal with neutrality or even just being themselves.

Linuxcooldude
11-24-2012, 11:34 PM
I personally believe that until more men would support women in new media then there would not be a need for female-owned media. With the way things are gender-neutral media is impossible. That puts us in a conundrum. Nether gender trusting the other.


There are some issues that women are facing that some men do not put into considering. It is the Spike channel. It is designed for men even though they do have female viewers as well.

Media based on gender is nothing new. Plenty of women cable channels to watch ( I do watch some of them too ) and I would not change the programming just to fit the male populous. In fact, I'm totally against it...lol.

They took my beloved SciFi channel changed it to SYFY. Then put wrestling and a bunch of reality shows. Now I don't watch it anymore.

Jadori
11-24-2012, 11:54 PM
Then you must be the exception to the rule then. Because most of the men that I know would not watch female-based programming. For me, it is not the fact that I don't trust men I think it is due to a portion of the male population who still believe in the separation of gender and it will take a lot of work for any equality to happen. Until I can meet a guy who has no problem with female CEO's then we still have a long way to go. In regards to SYFY it is a sign of the times. Sci-Fi is not really as popular in the mainstream anymore. It has from my view has more of a cult-following or is underground. In regards to reality TV, it is nothing new. It is cheaper to produce and also everyone likes to be in everyone's business anyways.

Linuxcooldude
11-25-2012, 12:36 AM
Actually when I first started watching the oxygen channel, some people said it portrayed men as abusers. But watching some programming it was further from the truth. In fact watching some of the "Snapped" episodes which featured women criminals, seemed out of place...lol. But I think as you get older your tastes change and wanted something different on occasion. I don't watch it exclusively, but if it has an interesting movie I'll watch it. Lately it has been LMN channel which I recently upgraded my cable package as it was cheaper.

Talking about Woman CEO, how about the new one at Yahoo, Didn't she already have a lucrative position somewhere else?

I think with Netflix, Hulu Plus and new media has changed the way cable/tv stations do things. Actually a lot of cable stations had to change over the years. With MTV not showing music videos much, name changes, adding programming outside of the channels theme shows that.

Jadori
11-25-2012, 01:21 AM
In regards to the female Yahoo CEO because it was a big company that was the only reason why they may have mentioned it. There have been women CEO's for generations it is only when it becomes popular that some of these women will be recognized outside of major female organizations such as NOW.

andrewzarian
11-25-2012, 03:53 PM
I think this is a very interesting discussion and will be moving it to its own thread.

Jadori
11-25-2012, 04:41 PM
Oh ok great! This is a topic that I have always wondered about. It is not the fact that I don't like men. There are men who support women in technology. I just wish that there was a stronger awareness for it.

Linuxcooldude
11-26-2012, 07:11 AM
Thanks Andrew. I was wondering if Andrew might be kind of mad at us about going off topic. But thanks for letting him put this in a separate thread.


There are men who support women in technology. I just wish that there was a stronger awareness for it.

I just don't think people will try to separate women podcaters/technologists into their own group. Look at this site. It was designed to help any podcaster regardless of gender or ethnic background.

For years we have been trying to promote equality among the genders, not necessarily single any gender out.

I've been broadcasting for almost 4 years now and still don't have a massive following. I average 10 viewers per show, 17 if I have a good day. My Youtube channel has been going for a year and a half with only 228 followers. Being a white male, 46 y/o does not give me an edge in podcasting.

But, I have not been actively promoting my show as much anymore.

Jadori
11-26-2012, 10:46 AM
The fact that you show is not doing well is what you mentioned is lack of promotion. If you don't put the work into it of course it will not do well. If you have good content(which I am sure you do) then you should be fine. The fact that you have 228 followers with low promotion is impressive. There are some people on YouTube who yet to have those kind of numbers. I would also like to thank Andrew for realizing how important this issue is.

Although IAIB features people of different cultures and backgrounds White people still have an invisible privilege in the podcasting game because it has been pre-determined by the mainstream industry. If we were all equal then of course there were would be no need for organizations that focus on the awareness of people of color in the media. There is a lack of well-educated people of color in the mainstream media especially women who are not seen as sex symbols.

Linuxcooldude
11-27-2012, 08:45 AM
Youtube is now hard to get breakout numbers simply because the massive amounts of video uploaded every day. Its hard to get noticed. But using Blip.tv & using its uploading features to multiple sites my viewing numbers are 2-3 times that of Youtube.

In what ways has it been pre-determined? I have certainly have not seen any privileges for my broadcast. What viewers I do have is through a lot of hard work, perseverance and enjoying what I do. I think other factors need to be considered that might account why we might not be seeing as many minority podcasters. I already mentioned one factor already. Population size is one key factor. We simply are not going to see the same number of podcasters proportional between majority and minority groups.

In fact it should be easier for them to get noticed through the internet. Nowadays all you need is a computer. The cost is substantially reduced. A lot of video/audio is on par with what cable/television/film industry is right now. All made available and easy access through a multitude of free host websites. iTunes, Youtube, Vimeo ect.

Don't forget main stream media is much different from new media. New Media allows anybody to easily and cheaply be seen world wide. New Media actually puts people on a much more equal scale then the conventional media ( TV/Cable/Newspapers/Film )

Jadori
11-27-2012, 04:48 PM
I would have to disagree with you in regards to new media being cheaper to produce. The more popular your show becomes the higher expectation is given for you show to be of better quality besides the content. Population size does not have anything to do with minorities in the new media community. By 2025, there will be more minorities in the U.S. than White people. I feel what is really is that our voices are not being accounted for because we are still considered to be secondary in regards to the production of our media. For example, for African-Americans we have BET. However, the channel itself only focuses on entertainment instead of bringing up real issues that affect the African-American community besides entertainment.

Also the production value for some new media programming is almost equal to traditional media. A show like Tosh.O is certainly not running on a cheap budget and it kind of balances between media convergence.

Linuxcooldude
11-30-2012, 12:25 AM
I would have to disagree with you in regards to new media being cheaper to produce. The more popular your show becomes the higher expectation is given for you show to be of better quality besides the content.

Its certainly cheaper when your starting out. Its a personal choice on how or far you want to go regardless of expectations.


Population size does not have anything to do with minorities in the new media community. By 2025, there will be more minorities in the U.S. than White people.

If population size does not matter, why are you quoting what will be 13 years from now? Thats then, this is now. Minorities will obviously be much larger, so we should see a proportionally larger sections of minorities in the media.


I feel what is really is that our voices are not being accounted for because we are still considered to be secondary in regards to the production of our media. For example, for African-Americans we have BET. However, the channel itself only focuses on entertainment instead of bringing up real issues that affect the African-American community besides entertainment.

But the media, whether entertainment or local news, is still run as a business. They will stick with a business model that makes the most money. Human interest stories will only go so far in keeping the viewer engaged or they will look elsewhere.

The most we will probably see is the most popular content first with the rest following.

Jadori
11-30-2012, 01:25 AM
I feel that people need to be concerned about the future of media and our society. You are clearly forgetting that the minority controls the majority. Our mainstream media is still clearly being controlled by White people. If minorities are placed in that position that is because they have proved themselves to be worthy to work along side their White counterparts. If we are all on the same playing field than there is not a need for minority media in the first place. But because our voices are still being muted to a certain extent this is why so many stereotypes of people of color exist in the media.

Everyone cares about making a profit when we should be trying to build deeper understands among one another.