Krista Henry, Staff Reporter 
Paula-Ann Porter in her radio DJ role. - File
WOMEN ARE at the forefront in entertainment, except it seems selecting. The number of females taking a professional spin at the turntable is small, if not non-existent, as the art of selecting is a male-dominated world.
The few prominent females in the selecting business in Jamaica are Paula Ann Porter, DJ Wildchild, DJ Sunshine and Heather Cummings, most of whom are exclusively on radio and not consistently active in the dancehall.
One of the major reasons for the deficiency seems to be the difficulty of the task itself. Few persons realise that selecting is not only 'glitz and glam'. Like all artistes, their art takes hard work, late nights and determination. And it is especially difficult for a woman to succeed in this man's world.
A MAN'S DOMAIN
FAME personality Paula-Ann Porter says "There are not a lot of girls encouraged to become selectors. Traditionally, it's a man's domain and it is not seen as something girls are supposed to want and there are not a lot of girls who want to."
IRIE FM's DJ Sunshine, Katrina Irons, says "It's a man's world; it's also a very difficult job. I'm constantly trying to prove myself because people don't take you seriously as a female. It's a lot of nightlife out on the road and a lot of females are not able to condition themselves." However, this did not stop the dynamo, as she says "I got started by just playing around with it, playing around with different types of music and found I liked it."
Paula-Ann Porter said "Though I enjoyed music, the hassle of the life of a selector is not something I enjoyed. It's a rough, tiring thing; it's not an easy task. Plus, there's the additional stress of fighting people to get paid. Sometimes what was agreed on is not what you get, especially if the party was not as successful as was hoped."
NO LIFE FOR FEMALES
Male selectors such as Razz from duo Razz and Biggy, and Matthew Gray from Coppershot Disco, agree that maybe the world of selecting is not the kind of life females are looking for. "I don't think selecting appeals to many women, as they don't see it as more than a passing a curiosity.
"For guys it's the way we grew up; we are all into the songs and playing them, listening to sound tapes and it's just part of the lifestyle for guys. We even used it to impress girls, where I think females have a different focus growing up," Gray said.
"I think females get looked on in fascination at first and then it boils down to whether you doing a good job at building the vibes and maintaining it. If they don't, then I think whoever is in the party will not be responding to them whether male or female," Gray added.
Razz says "It is a male-dominated field. Females don't normally select jobs like that, where you have to go out late at night and on the road. But I believe females can do anything."
CHALLENGING
DJ Sunshine claims that she is always trying to challenge herself and this is the right field in which to do so. However, Porter describes her days as a selector as challenging, saying it was "challenging to learn how to mix, but it was interesting, new and different. I wanted to see if I could do it and I did."
DJ Sunshine and Paula Ann Porter say that they didn't have any major problems with men on the job. "When I used to play I didn't have a problem with the males; they were nice to me. There were those, though, who didn't know me, who had a 'she can't do nothing' kind of vibe," Porter said. But Sunshine says the major difficulty for female selectors is themselves, and as long they have the drive then they can succeed.
GOOD RESPONSE
As the female selectors continually show, they can get a crowd moving. Razz says "DJ Sunshine hot; she always gets a very good response. It's even better seeing that females are not supposed to be good and she mash up di place.
"It's something new to see a female in action and how a man would talk in a dance is different from what a female does. The male patrons expect her not to do well; because of this, she has nothing to lose.
"In Sunshine case she deals wid it wicked, and she gets lots of fans. She matches up to big selectors." Gray says "DJ Sunshine is an amazing selector who has built her name and earned her stripes as a selector. The people love her, as for a lot of the radio disc jockeys they do a good job on the radio, but we don't see them out a lot".
"Both radio and the dancehall I enjoy. There is a different kind of feel. In the dancehall you are out there with the crowd to see their reaction, while on radio you are talking to 2.5 million people," Sunshine said. "People find it fascinating for a female to DJ. In Jamaica and even in Italy where I was just on tour, people stare at me while I'm playing ... I can't think of any other female besides me that are out there in the dancehall," she said.
This may be as the dancehall environment can bring out a number of difficult issues, personally and otherwise. Porter says "sometimes you're not playing by yourself and what other DJs say is not what I'm comfortable with as a woman. What am I to say after a selector has just talked about the nether regions of a woman?"
FEMALE TOUCH
That does not mean that a female cannot try to bring their own flair to a party set. Sunshine says "I put a female's touch to it. When you are a female you present things in a different way. You have to have a commanding voice to get a crowd response".
Crowd response is what it takes to achieve success and receiving payment in this business. Getting paid as a female does not seem to pose problems. Razz says "payment is not based on gender. Payment has to do with popularity of the name. It's easy for a good female selector to make a name and fans because it's so rare".
To Porter, being a good selector is "about the quality of the music. You have to play for the audience, not for yourself. You are here to entertain and create a mood, it's not a one man show. Selectors need to be unselfish".
The professionals had much advice for potential female selectors. Porter says "they have to know what they are getting into. DJing is a skill and an art; it's not something you get involved with just for fun. For the females, you need to understand and not come into with an antagonistic attitude, it's a man' world". Sunshine advises "if you plan to be in the business, don't let a guy tell you what to do or what to play and don't dip your pen in company ink".
Not all patrons are fans of the ladies. Nicholas Green comments "female selectors chat too much. Dem have too much attitude, like Sunshine". Matthew Martin claims "true seh I wouldn't really feel a vibe wid a woman behind di mic, doh in the past woman DJs does talk too damn much and I hate when DJs talk too too much, either male or female. Once I went to a fete, can't remember the name and it had Chyna spinning, I think from Zip. She was good though".
And a number of females dance goers are still unaware of the female selectors. A female partygoer states "I don't really know of any, but if they are good they should give men competition. No job is defined as men only".
