Manga Tech Friday: Girl Geeks Represent!

March 26, 2010

PodcastLogoI’m a total girl geek.  I read comics and manga, watch sci-fi and anime, and I love technology.  One of the things I love about technology is the freedom it gives.  It’s the great equalizer.  With the advent of better and cheaper hardware and software, anyone can have their own radio and/or TV show.  You don’t need to be in broadcasting or work at a radio or TV station to be seen and hear by millions of people.  The tech I’ve come to love and really depend on are podcasts.  They get me to and from work and sometimes through the long day.  I can find podcasts on anime, manga, tech, astronomy, skeptic news and Doctor Who.  I try to share at the manga ones on my This Week in Manga posts, but after listening to the latest batch I realized there was something missing from everything I listened too.  A female voice.

I listen to 4 manga specific podcast, and they’re all done by men.  There are two others that are both manga and anime, that do include women, but those either have updates that are few and far between, and the manga reviews on them are even fewer and farther between.  It was when I was listening to one of the male-centric podcasts that I realized just HOW male-centric it was.  Now, I’m not blaming any of these guys for their opinions.  Obviously, that’s the whole point to a podcast, to express your opinion in an audio format.  But I’ve been finding myself missing hearing a female’s voice or even just perspective.  There has been a distinct lack of shojo titles reviewed in these podcasts and it even when they are, the whole “chic-ness” about them are completely missed by these guys.  What’s really needed is some female voices out there representing the female perspective.

I’m kinda confused though about why there are practically no female manga podcasters.  On Twitter I am constantly hearing that manga and blogging about it is dominated by women.  And, granted, on Twitter there is a large community of manga bloggers.  But why hasn’t that translated to the podcast medium?  If someone was to look at the manga community based on podcasts, it would be seen as another male-centric hobby.  Is it the technology that keeps women from going it?  Do we as a gender just don’t want to have our voices recorded?  We certainly don’t have a problem expressing our opinions.  I just don’t get it.

So this is a call out to any and all girl geeks who want to get their voice heard, literally!  There’s an audience out here just dying to hear you.  I know I’m not the only one looking for a podcast that represents the female perspective.  I’ve considered it myself a few times, but hat doesn’t solve what I’ll listen to then.  I’m not going to listen to my own podcasts.  That defeats the purpose of this post.  Are you interested but don’t know where to start?  This page takes you step by step through the process, including how to record and edit.

9 Comments

  • MG Doom March 26, 2010 at 3:24 pm

    It surprises me there are not more manga centric podcasts hosted by women. I only just got into manga in a big way the past year and virtually all the manga news and opinions I rely on come from women. Of course this blog being one of which I rely on.

    Sounds to me like it’s a tech issue. I know a number of non-tech minded people that like to use blog talk radio to make their podcasts as it’s free and all you have to do is call into it through a phone or something like skype as it does all the technical work for you.

    http://www.blogtalkradio.com

    • Lori Henderson March 26, 2010 at 6:51 pm

      Thanks for the link! I think I’ll check it out.

  • Lissa March 27, 2010 at 7:15 am

    Soon. That’s all I’ll say 😉

  • Katherine Dacey March 27, 2010 at 8:36 am

    For me, it’s not an issue of technology (I work at a music college, so I’m actually pretty tech-savvy when it comes to audio recording), it’s an issue of time. I would love to do a weekly podcast, but it’s still a lot faster for me to write a review or a column than it is to write a script, read it several times, then edit the final results so that it sounds professional. But one of these days, I will. I did some radio and announcing in college, so I still get the itch from time to time.

  • Rainy March 27, 2010 at 7:45 pm

    Time: Work & living in Korea. Most people I know who read manga live back home & so the time difference is a bit of a pain to try to do something like that. Plus, of the people I do know who read manga, I don’t think they have the time to do a podcast, even if they just have to do the talking. The prep work & time to record they don’t have on a regular basis (work, grad school, etc). Even if I were to start something up on my own, I don’t have the time to prep, produce, and record the show, plus build/maintain/promote some sort of website to hold it on.

    Tech: I’m fairly tech savvy & know tech savvy people so figuring out the recording part wouldn’t be a problem. As well as the building/maintaining of the website. Know how to do it & know people I can ask for help. Along with the time issue, I don’t feel comfortable doing the editing part (aka, I hate the sound of my own voice), which I know I’ll have to do if I do it solo.

    I’m more surprised that there aren’t more manga podcasts in general, given how many blogs there are talking about & reviewing it.

  • Lee March 27, 2010 at 10:20 pm

    The Japantor AM Podcast is led by a woman.

  • Aila March 28, 2010 at 10:39 am

    I’m half tempted to try. I’m been working on a blog here and there focusing mainly on shoujo manga, and I know I’d personally like to listen to something like this as well. Must start asking around my fellow fangirls to see if anyone else is interested.

  • Lorena March 29, 2010 at 9:32 am

    Ah, Lori, you’ve been reading my mind…Kind of! I’ve actually been toying with the idea of a companion podcast for my blog for some time. I’m fairly tech savvy because of my real-life work–I’m editor of new media at a public university. And, let’s face it, I’m opinionated, too.

    But, I lack the time–in echoing Kate, it’s hard to script, record and edit in a timely fashion and be satisfied with my work (my detail-oriented nature at work is a boon; in my hobbies, it can hold me back from being happy with the final product). Not to mention that it’s too much like “work” since that’s what I do in my day job.

    For now, I’ll echo Lissa and simply say, “Soon.” In the meantime, I hope my fellow female manga bloggers can get some shows started. I know I’ll be listening!

  • Maddy April 3, 2010 at 6:26 pm

    I know of one anime podcast with two female hosts: http://thepoweroffriendship.libsyn.com/

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