Thanks for the detailed response....due to various life things I don't think that zine's gonna be ready, which is a damn shame but there you go. Another time.
(ooh, was that a little hint to you blog folk that the boy and I are making a zine? It might be...it just might be......more to come)
Also, I've got a question for you about performers....as far as I am aware, none of the local performers are being paid to perform at Ladyfest, which in itself didn't seem strange until I saw the ticket prices. For a not-for-profit event with a historically DIY ethos it's very expensive.
I know you're offering free in to people who are physically able to volunteer for 8 hours, but to be honest I am a little blown away that an event with arts council funding and a number of pre-event fundraisers AND expensive door charges is not paying local performers...the very women who ladyfest is all about.
I *do* get that supporting women artists does not always mean being all about the money - sometimes providing a platform and exposure is just as important - but I've noticed myself that as a performer I am far more likely to be offered some kind of fee if I am performing outside of the town I live in. Somehow by getting on a train I am deemed 'more important/worthy' than I am if I walk down the road from where I live...like distance creates credibility or something. I don't like this, I think it's bullshit, I don't agree with it, but it is, in my experience, exactly what happens.
Creating a platform for women artists to be seen and heard is great, but when you're told again and again that you won't get a cut of the door because all the budget was spent on the headliner/the expensive posters/etc, and that you should be grateful for simply being offered a space in which to be heard, it starts to get more than a little patronising...
I really really hope that this isn't what's going on here. I really hope that all the local performers (many of whom have been honing their skills for years and are considered 'leaders in their fields') are not just giving their time, energy and art for free so the Slits can get paid well.
Maybe women artists are so used to being grateful just for having a space to perform in that we never ask why we rarely get paid or valued in the way that so many male artists *expect* to. For many of the performers involved - probably most - this is not their hobby, it is their job. Probably not their only job, but part of their livelihood none the less. The way they pay their bills, put food in their mouths, and make the time to keep creating. When there is money available, through grants, fundraising, ticket sales or whatever, artists should get paid. Simple as that.
Please let me know what's up with all this.....I'm hoping to hear back and realise that I've got the wrong end of the stick or whatever....prove me wrong...please...
x tomato
Thursday, 30 October 2008
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8 comments:
oooooh this is so great! you go sister!!!
xcheerleaderx
Ditto, acorn.
Fucksake. It's not just your job, it's your heart and soul - more over. These cunts should pay up or fuck off.
Is there somewhere I can write to, to complain too? I'm good at complaining, innit.
Please post the reply, assuming you get one.
"Maybe women artists are so used to being grateful just for having a space to perform in that we never ask why we rarely get paid or valued in the way that so many male artists *expect* to."
I think you've got it in one there. There's something about the fact that the value of a performance is subjective, so if you're asked to value it yourself you're likely (as a woman) to undervalue it. Think about that study of job adverts where they advertised a job with a high salary and got mostly male applicants, then ran the exact same ad with a lower salary and got mostly female applicants. Hell, I am not even very good at charging people for fixing their toilets, and there's a going rate for that...
jo: well of course you're not good at charging people for fixing their toilets - you're taking away some hard working man's job, right? (oooh, role plays always make me feel creepy...shake it out, shake it out) That job ad thing is quite terrifying...but unsuprisingly I am not surprised.
I've only just started asking for 'standard rates' for running workshops etc. for organisations that do have the money or the ability to find it, and surprise surprise I have not once been told they won't take me on because my quote is too high. I had to learn this from a few hard-nosed guys writer guys....still hard to believe.
P: are you sure you're not a taurus, or aries, or some kinda thing with feisty horns? No reply as yet - well, a blank reply to which I replied asking for words rather than space. Will let you know.
Acorn: thanks for the cheerlead!
ooo, ooh, I just got a reply saying 'thanks for these important questions - I want to take this to the group meeting so we can discuss it and give a thoughtful reply'.....
just keepin you updated, feisty ones!
Notice you haven't published an update o this yet. Maybe it's because you've discovered that the organisers weren't engaged in some sinister money-making plot and that wasn't vast spare sums of money floating about that was being deliberately withheld from performers, or that The Slits weren't being paid thousands of pounds, or that it wasn't being run by some vast corporate conglomorate. Or, maybe, you've realised that it's a good idea to, you know, actually do some real research before throwing about totally unfounded allegations at a group of volunteers who have imput a great deal of their own time and resources into making this happen with the sole aim of creating this event and making it as accessible as possible. The organisers were all new to this and, as with all ladyfests, were learning as they went along and were doing their best. Public meetings had been going on for nearly a year and had been publicised online. There was also an e-mail group to join to discuss the event and any concerns, so, plenty of opportunities to find out if your accusations had any basis or not, but that's just too much trouble sometimes isn't it? If Ladyfest were a business or a financial concern then this would be understandable but as it's not I think you should have allowed the organisers the chance to respond before posting a diatribe. I'm sure there are comments I could make about the whole structure of zine culture, especially the ways in which it excludes all of those who are, for various reasons, unable to access print-based media and the ways in which it caters to minority interests but this would be to deny all the wonderful things about zines. Similarly, though Ladyfest Manchester may not have been perfect the organisers did the very best job they could with no expectation of personal gain (other than the pleasure of putting on a great event) and while knowing the limitations that always hamper grass-roots festivals. They channelled a great deal of energy into making the festival as accessible as possible, so that parents with young children and disabled people (who are often prevented from attending such events) were able to come along. This meant getting a venue which was all ages and fully wheelchair accessible which all costs money, as did the creche and other facilities which were on offer. It could have been held in a bar or a club somewhere for cheaper probably but then we'd have been excluding the very people feminisim is always accused of ignoring, which is totally unacceptable. In future, instead of sending irate e-mails perhaps just ask questions, go to meetings, actually find out if your fears are true and then do something about it. I'm sure you'd have been welcome to get involved in Ladyfest at any time and in any way and that your feedback would have been welcomed, maybe you wouldn't have been sat at home dreaming up sinister conspiracy theories about a group of people and an event which you had taken no time to find out about.
hi anonymous,
Yes, I thought it was unfair to make a judgement about it without doing research too, which is why I sent the text of this post in an email to Ladyfest. I received a great email from one of the organisers which went into a lot of detail about it all, and actually managed to answer the points I raised by taking them seriously, as opposed to rubbishing them as ridiculous as your response does here.
You're right, I've not updated it yet. I guess that was because I assumed (wrongly I see) that this annonymous blog was read by about 5 people who'd actually be interested, and since receiving the email reply from Ladyfest organisers I've spoken face to face with my small number of readers, telling them about the response i got.
My mistake in thinking that was acceptable. Seems I'm not the only one who's prone to hysterical conspiracy theorising...
oh, and the reason I didn't get involved and come the meetings is because I'm ill right now - as in chronically. It's a lot easier for me to write than it is to walk and stand around etc. Is that an acceptable excuse, anonymous friend?
Oh Anonymous one - we can't see you all the way up there. Pray, come down from your high horse and show yourself rather than hiding behind a condescending and arrogant veneer. Maybe then a dialogue would indeed be possible rather than being reduced to a silencing rebuffal.
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