Survey on Micro Aggressions in the Studio

[JohnRoberts]

He starts at least one fight every day himself. You most have a very soft spot for him to see him as only "responding"...

My apologies to the forum for this hijack/veer....  I was trying to say something nice about President Obama but apparently even that was a trigger...

===

Life must be pretty good if we consider this (micro aggressions) important, but this seems consistent with changing modern culture. It will be interesting to see where this all ends up.

JR

 

[living sounds]

My apologies to the forum for this hijack/veer....  I was trying to say something nice about President Obama but apparently even that was a trigger...

No, you were talking about "civility". Just ignore the indefensible?

 

[JohnRoberts]

No, you were talking about "civility". Just ignore the indefensible?

I find it pointless to trade insult with you. I do not expect to change your mind. Do you expect to change mine?

This thread is about micro aggressions in the studio, I shared the fact that President Obama recently offered some sensible comments about social media shaming.

I dislike the way hyperbolic political speech corrupts almost every aspect of our everyday life.  We are still a full year away from the vote, so this will likely get worse not better, in the near term.

JR

 

[okgb]

In this world of overly political correctness,  there seems to be  disproportionate representation  for many groups now
Is every second person in the world  " alternative  lifestyle " ?  and it isn't good enough to simply be American ?

Interesting was the controversy when people at universities spray paint
                                          " It's ok to be white "    ...............coming from supremacist grps it's a big stab in that direction but
getting left out of equity hiring is too!  Nothing black & white in the world these days!

 

[Scodiddly]

Since I don't recall any microagressions directed at me, I'm just going to assume that they don't exist and that the people talking about them must be idiots.  That seems completely fair, doesn't it?

 

[hodad]

Right here in this Brewery I've read comments--from several people, not just one or two--that would make me feel unwelcome if I were a woman--as a man I don't find them all that welcoming either. 

 

[sodderboy]

I was momentarily tempted to find out what the term "woke" means in the currently discussed context, but I overcame that temptation. I can add this to my list of achievements alongside others such as never having heard Greta's voice.

HOW TAIR  YOO!

Wow, there's still studios around with staffs that can micro aggress each other?  Put a bunch of aspiring 20 year olds, mainly men, together in a competitive, creative environment and purge it of "micro aggression"?  I shudder at that dystopian world.  Creativity would be the first casualty.

I witnessed that many currently successful engineers were steeped in micro aggression from "mentors" in their early years.  No names, no stories.  There were engineers in places where I tech'ed that were nuts macroly and microly.  We were all there to keep them (all PRIVILEDGED WHITE MALES!!!) cool.  It was part of the training.  The overall studio vibe was cool and we were all willing participants.  If you realized that it started to suck you moved onwards and upwards.  That was the 80's NYC studio version of "woke"- I'm freakin' out of here!  It definitely had to do with who owned the studio.  Some places were great and others were totally bogus.

Is two producer/engineers working an album lockout, alternately sleeping, and a studio forcing one assistant to work 22 hours a day micro or macro?  All of us called it "paying our dues" in the 80's.  And the young women who wanted to learn the craft really had to be hard or they bagged-out quickly.

It's not much of an issue in NY because there aren't many studios and everyone has to be on payroll now so there's nothing like free interns anymore.  Free people were definitely targets of all versions of aggression.  We called it "paying our dues" and moved-on to get paid as soon as possible.

All you need to detect micro aggressions is a huge "chip on your shoulder".  And the chip never needs any calibration!  Woke is broke.
Mike

 

[JohnRoberts]

When I first became a mod here years ago I noticed the absence of admitted female participants (not that unusual for web forums).

I tried to push back against the good old boys locker room talk that probably keeps some of the better sex away. In my judgement it is more civil around here now than it was, but without some women around (visibly) to keep us honest it is hard to maintain discipline.

The rules prohibit sexually offensive comments but sometimes that can be in the eye of the beholder. 

Nowadays some people feel slighted if you don't search answers for them...  (they must have an internet connection to even ask questions here.  : )

JR

PS: I can't tell you how many really funny dirty jokes I did not share here...  8) That used to be the most fun at trade shows to get together with old friends and share new off-color jokes.

PPS: Speaking of jokes, I do not get all the political humor that is only funny to about half the voters. Sometimes I will smirk a little before I delete and block the purveyor of snarky political humor on social media. For actual friends I only block them for 30 days, but when that 30 days is up, I get a blizzard of the same old poop from them, reminding me why I blocked them.  8)

 

[fazer]

All you need to detect micro aggressions is a huge "chip on your shoulder".  And the chip never needs any calibration!  Woke is broke.

Agreed. My new motto. Woke is Broke.  Seriously grow some Balls.  Or lose them and your dreams.

 

[Dreams]

I was really hoping for some better response on here so that i didn't feel it necessary to write anything, but holy hell. Too many of the replies on this thread are just.......whew. Breathtaking. If it weren't for all the finely tuned defense mechanisms, you'd be able to see the egos shattering in real time.

I like this forum because it's generally civil and personal attacks aren't tolerated, but where does that line get drawn? The responses here make it seem like that line is just outside the edge of the boys club. You can't attack someone personally, but generally seems to be ok. "Grow some balls"? Seriously?  I get why it would be frowned upon to say, for instance, "hey fazer, shut the fu*k up old man," but why do they get to say something possibly equally off-putting to a large group of people? I get what they mean, but at the same time it misses the point entirely. Why would someone elect to spend time around that kind of sentiment? This isn't a god damn death match, it's audio electronics, you f'n nerds. And sure, you can hold up a token example here or there of how "no, actually, we're a welcoming community" but if that were the case, we'd be waaaaaay more diverse. There are diy'ers and techs out there who aren't men, I've seen them with my own eyes. I imagine they aren't here for a reason, even if they wouldn't tell you or I what that reason was to our face.

It's a massive tell when you see someone deriding woke culture, etc. Because c'mon, what does that really mean? "i'm upset that some people no longer tolerate the type of asshole i am"

"I paid my dues, why cant they?" is another. That phrase reads as "i was treated like garbage, and i don't think anyone else deserves to have things better than i had them." What an inspirational way to be.

Hey guess what? i wasn't treated like garbage, and it ruled. Sucks for you. People don't deserve that type of treatment just because you ate sh*t and it "wouldn't be fair" if they didn't receive the same or whatever excuse you have to make yourself feel less bad about yourself

The term 'micro-aggressions' is almost a concession. It's a little "you aren't even AWARE of what a jerk you're being," because your behavior has been normalized in the community for so long. For a bunch of people who call themselves recording engineers, you sure are bad at listening

I don't want to write any of this. I'm a big dumb idiot who has no business lecturing anyone else on how to be. But i guess it takes one to know one, and all the silly little defenses are sad and desperate ways that our insecurity uses to justify ourselves to ourselves. I see them, and i know, because i did, and continue to struggle against them daily. I fail a lot. I'm grateful to those who see i'm trying and continue to be with me anyway


One of the BEST feelings I've ever had in the recording game is when people would tell me/us that they were truly grateful and actually *surprised* when they were treated with respect as artists and/or musicians in our studio, because the majority of their experiences at other studios was negative in precisely the way most of the responses to this thread seem to illustrate. It happened a lot. It happened so much that it started to bum me out. It happened SO MUCH. I grew to hate hearing it.

I don't even mean to say that "oh look at me, we're so great." Because we aren't; it's just that there's so much more out there that's worse.

This thread sucks and this post sucks and all i really want is for people to feel welcome here, and to know that at least a few of us are sick and god damn tired of the same old attitudes

I've come a long way, and you can too, if you want to. I'm just a white guy who sucks but trying to suck a little bit less day after day. I know i'm not gonna change everyone's minds or anything, but if you can't be actively trying to make people's lives and time on this earth a bit better, can you at least shut the hell up? Because you are EMBARRASSING ME

 

[Dreams]

Boy, i can't wait for the bad faith responses or utter radio silence

 

[Dreams]

The Brewery should be deleted. It's consistently a stain on this otherwise great forum

 

[Dreams]

Cool sidestep, bro

 

[Dreams]

Can't wait for everything else i wrote to get picked apart in bad faith

 

[fazer]

Hey Dreams.  Your Right about my add in comment.  Not appropriate.    But I got tell you, you had to have some to survive in the studio business of the past.  That business is long gone.  Anybody doing it today is in a completely different business model and probably a solo operation. 

The thing that reads true about your micro aggressions are that being nice to clients is very important and I've  enjoyed being a facilitator for people. It was and is very important to me.  There is nothing like having a longterm client that makes your work rise to a higher level and theirs as well. 

"Old Man"  now that hurts but some truth in that.    I think of the Brewery as a barstool and talk.  Thats great for 3 guys in a bar but very different when we all bring our wives. 

It is a worldwide community and there are lots of people in the room.  This old man will try to be more mindful of that.    My apologies. 

 

[dmp]

I was really hoping for some better response on here so that i didn't feel it necessary to write anything, but holy hell. Too many of the replies on this thread are just.......whew. Breathtaking. If it weren't for all the finely tuned defense mechanisms, you'd be able to see the egos shattering in real time.

Thanks for bringing some sanity

I like this forum because it's generally civil and personal attacks aren't tolerated, but where does that line get drawn? The
responses here make it seem like that line is just outside the edge of the boys club.

And it's ironic - to defend sh*tty behavior  (and criticize the push back against it) in a forum that prohibits it

It's a massive tell when you see someone deriding woke culture, etc. Because c'mon, what does that really mean? "i'm upset that some people no longer tolerate the type of asshole i am"

+1

"I paid my dues, why cant they?" is another. That phrase reads as "i was treated like garbage, and i don't think anyone else deserves to have things better than i had them." What an inspirational way to be.

+1

Especially the idea that an unpaid intern should take the hazing. The power dynamic of abuse is especially sickening and to defend it as the the way it is or that people should toughen up is sad. 

Hey guess what? i wasn't treated like garbage, and it ruled. Sucks for you. People don't deserve that type of treatment just because you ate sh*t and it "wouldn't be fair" if they didn't receive the same or whatever excuse you have to make yourself feel less bad about yourself

+1

all i really want is for people to feel welcome here, and to know that at least a few of us are sick and god damn tired of the same old attitudes

+1

The Brewery should be deleted. It's consistently a stain on this otherwise great forum

I go back and forth on this.

 

[JohnRoberts]

The Brewery should be deleted. It's consistently a stain on this otherwise great forum

The traffic here suggests the Brewery is appreciated by more than a few forum members, if it (we) bother you that much the easiest remedy is to just avoid this sub forum.

From a couple decades spent on internet forums I have found it difficult to change other people's behavior (aka herding cats).

Common interest forums like this generate a sense of community and many people enjoy having an off topic sub forum like this to blow off steam and share personal successes/failures with the community.  Most web forums have a sub-forum like this. Few are this well behaved.

Your opinions are welcome and probably shared by others here. Your suggestion to delete the brewery will be discounted as an emotional outburst.  I think we'll keep the Brewery.  8)

JR 

PS: The entertainment industry is the poster boy for bad behavior. They invented the "casting couch" over a century ago, but that bad behavior revolves around a power dynamic that predates the technology to make movies or records (by centuries).

 

[Tubetec]

Theres plenty of points of view in here I disagree with , but the last thing I'd ever seek is to do limit peoples expression because of it . Just because I might profoundly disagree with someone on one subject doest mean their opinion is of no value to me ,and I certainly  dont write people off on that basis or even begin to think that we coulndt find other points we might agree on .

I fully accept that some of my perspectives , views and use of language might enrage , inflame and make some people feel very uncomfortable , its seems in the modern world people have an expectation that their illusory views cant be chalenged  because they might suffer 'anxiety' or a melt down .

When you try something new or were learning a new skill your bound to experience some minor anxieties , in that case an old hand would take you aside and explain whats what. . In modern times the will to even have a go at something chalenging is much reduced by social media driven anxiety and fear of public failure . It seems nowadays lack of confidence is something to be medicated for ,forgetting its something which we've striven to over come since the dawn of humanity.

Bit early for beer here , but I raise a glass to those who cause us to question or re-evaluate our opinions every once in a while .




 

 

[JohnRoberts]

Never too early for beer....

JR

 

[boji]

The question is, does informing people of their secret evils make them better people over time? I worry it takes otherwise nonpolarized people and asks them to publically sit on a knife. Rather than be wounded, some experiment with falling to the left, some experiment with falling to the right, and the cycle of low-level, watchdog activism is self-perpetuated.

Ideas are not people.  Words on a page are not people.  When people get together to explore their feelings on words picked by someone else we try to make the words ours by criticizing the words. This leads to synthesis, or rejection. Confuse this rejection with the whole of the living person, and the accuser gets the golem they chanted over.