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Women and non-binary DJs from Cairo and the Diaspora are reshaping the electronic music scene. Among other things, they are building communities of mutual support, creating safer spaces for Cairo’s nightlife, breaking glass ceilings and even changing mindsets.
Where Cairo’s dark restaurants have been turned into dance halls, party-goers move to a vibrant beat played by a female DJ.
This generation of women is reinventing Egypt’s underground electronic music scene by stepping into a male-dominated industry.
Despite being a patriarchal conservative country, cultural establishments are neglected and even ban electronic music artists.
“The biggest challenge is finding a venue. We need a place to play our music. Unfortunately, we can’t play our music because there is no venue,” said Under. Yaas Meen Selectra, an infamous DJ in the ground electronic music business, laments. .
For years, female partygoers have complained about harassment in the capital’s nightclubs.
This generation of up-and-coming young female DJs is paving the way to create more inclusive spaces for performers and party-goers.
As Egyptian DJ Dahlia Hassan quickly explained, “We play at all-female parties, such as bachelorette parties and segregated weddings. Some people prefer an all-women’s wedding, where women feel more comfortable and have more freedom to dress up and dance as they please when the DJ is a woman. Especially in Egypt, there are many women who wear veils.
These female DJs have many fans, but not all of them are female. Some men support the evolving conventions and rejoice in the fact that more women are taking on traditionally masculine positions.
According to AFP, less than 20% of women are formally employed in the country of 104 million people.
“I came specifically for Yas Meen. I don’t think there is a difference between men and women in this regard. There was criticism at the level of women who sing songs, women who work as chauffeurs, but that is not the case anymore, ”says Omar Sheriff, a young fan of electronic music.
Despite the increasing number of female DJs, the scene is still dominated by men, especially in production and management.
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