Opinion: the female history of Hardcore Techno needs to be rewritten

Another opinion feature by one of our authors

I write a lot about the history of hardcore techno. There is growing interest in this specific genre of music - both by people new to the sound, and by the 'old dogs'.
Over time, I noticed there is a topic that people are especially interested in: Female Hardcore DJs, producers, and generally women who were influential or important to the scene.
Now you might think: "Ah, yeah, a lot of lonely Gabber guys who like the thought about a woman who does Hardcore, too, especially if she's 'good looking'. Typical 'fanboy' fantasies."
Well, yes, that probably plays a part in it, too. But a lot of these reactions are by females themselves, who are happy to hear there are more Hardcore sisters out there, and that the scene is not ran entirely by macho males.
And, of course, there are guys who sincerely support the female cause, too.

So, people are eager to hear about the female history of hardcore.
There is just a problem to it, that has been mostly overlooked so far.
We don't know this history. No one does. Because one cannot know it (at least not easily).

Why not? Because we cannot know which 90s producer / DJ / etc. was female or not! We cannot be certain.
People have been doing what is nowadays called "assuming the gender" of someone.
So yeah, they see a person, and see that person has long hair, "tits", maybe even a name that ends with -ie and -a and immediately go: "Oh, that's surely a woman!"
And that's total bullshit. Bodily appearance does not make you a female. Having a 'clit' or 'vagina' does not make someone a female (and how would they know what a producer or DJ has 'in their pants' anyway?).
Gender is completely disconnected from bodily make-up and appearance. Whether you are a man or a woman (or something entirely different) is not defined by which parts you might, or might not have.

So, in many cases we just can't know which DJ / Producer in the 90s was female or not!
People have assigned genders to them that might not be correct at all.
Even if you go back, and find interviews etc. were a specific producer called themselves a woman, used female pronouns and such, this not a definitive clue. They could have just been closeted for a number of reason.
There was much less tolerance (or even understanding!) for concepts like trans, non-binary, agender, and so on in the 90s than there is now. It is quite understandable if someone decided to remain quiet about their own, actual gender.

And, the next thing is:
This goes for the 90s producers and DJs that have been assumed to be males so far, too!
Having short hair, Adam's apple, and a "penis" does not automatically make you a male. Let us repeat: 'Gender has nothing to do with the body!'

So, a lot of Hardcore people that were considered to be "male" in that decade, might have actually been females.
Thus there might be a lot more 90s female Hardcore producers and DJs out there than most people think.

Now, I don't want to do the opposite extreme and call into question the gender of actual people.
In many cases, people might have just been what others thought about them. They might have been cis.
After all, it should be left to each individual to handle their own identity in any way they want to.

I just want to say that this habit to "assume the gender" of people they don't know has to stop. Everyone should be more tolerant, respectful, and open-minded.

And I wanted to point out that the history of female hardcore is much less clear-defined than some people think.

So, let us rewrite Hardcore history!