This guy found the most misguided way to support the Day Without A Woman
As organizers of today’s “Day Without a Woman” strike explain on their website, the goal of their protest is to “raise our voices together again, to say that women’s rights are human rights, regardless of a woman’s race, ethnicity, religion, immigration status, sexual identity, gender expression, economic status, age or disability.”
For Birmingham, Alabama’s Hot 107.7 FM radio station, however, “raising our voices together” evidently means: Listen to men, and only men, all day.
Yes, as Operations Manager Ken Johnson explained to Mediaite, the decision to nix any and all women from the station’s playlist during the Day Without a Woman “was an easy decision for us.”
The, uh, show of, I guess you’d call it “solidarity” (?) evidently isn’t limited to female artists, either. DJs Tasha Simone and Jeannie Johnson have reportedly stepped back from the mic today, as well.
“Women are our core listeners and these women contribute a great deal to our sound. Honoring women by highlighting to the community how important they are is a no-brainer,” Johnson told Mediaite. “Plus, hearing more Marvin Gaye, Teddy Pendergrass, and Luther Vandross is not a bad thing.”
It’s a funny sentiment, given how the women’s strike—part of the larger International Women’s Day celebration—is ultimately about elevating female voices, not erasing them.
But, maybe, just maybe, this is all leading to something good.
If celebrating International Women’s Day means giving male musicians a day of exclusive airtime, then HOT 107.7 should mark the other 364 days of the year by playing women, and only women.
Fair is fair.