Recently HARD Summer’s teaser came out, and it has got people talking. Within the week that it went live, the founder of HARD Summer had to apologize to fans.
Agata Alexander directed the 8-minute video, and her plan to get people talking worked. They took gender stereotypes within the EDM community and sexism that woman have to deal with and played them out through a disgusting character named Harvey. The video featured a number of DJs, Claude VonStroke, What So Not, DJ Snake and others.
A number of the stereotypes were that women don’t look like the type to play music, meaning they would have to use a ghost producer. The video also played into the stereotype that girls are too emotional, and to get to the top you should have sex with everyone.
These ideas are not new within the EDM community, but it seems the talk about sexism goes on the back burner at times. The director wanted people to start talking about the problem, and she did just that. In a recent interview she talks about some of the choices she made for the video and why.
This year at HARD Summer there are 26 female DJs playing. That is a huge increase from 4 last year, but this number can still go higher with 110 DJs playing all weekend. The conversation about sexism in EDM has to continue but making a joke of the situation may not of been the best choice. Many male DJs have come forward in the past speaking out against sexism and it is awesome. We just hope there continues to be less Harveys in the world.
Though everyone may not agree with the video, sexism in the community is back on peoples minds and people are discussing the topic. If anything we can stand behind the discussion.
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