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The other day, a DJ by the name of Justin James posted in the public facebook group Support FEMALE DJS! to state he was looking to book female DJs with his agency. Seemed like a fine enough talent search post, that is until James took it upon himself to list the qualities he was looking for.

dj justin james

So he’s looking for female DJs but they have to be 21 – 32 years old, between 5’2 – 5’7 and weigh between 47-54kg.

Wow. Just. Wow.

It only gets more frustrating when people who rightfully called him out for his set of misogynistic criteria posted his very unapologetic responses (complete with sign off winky face).

justin james

Women in the music industry do not receive the same treatment as men. We’ve discussed it frequently whether it be through the personal experiences of musicians we have interviewed, the obvious lack of diversity in festival lineups or even just through the documentation of women in music calling out the industry. And this guy listing off the wanted physical qualities of women (like that has anything to do with their fucking music) is an ignorant dismissal of the talent and abilities of female DJs.

To lay down criteria of a woman’s physical appearance is to reduce her to how she looks and thus knock away any importance of her musical talent. I said this before when discussing sexism in music journalism and I’ll repeat myself as often as it needs pointing out. Before he responds with this is “the current state of the industry” he should ask himself if he ever has to fulfill these aesthetic requirements when hiring male DJs. No? You don’t base booking a male DJ on whether he fits a certain weight or height requirement? Well then the sexism of the industry is screaming pretty loudly in your face.

James later took to twitter to fulfill his requirements of ‘outed misogynist’ by posting a sorry-not-sorry apology, to no one’s surprise.

“I only work with attractive female DJs” well mate I only work with people who can count to eight properly. And that’s me basing our work partnership on your ability to count not whether you fulfill the toxic requirements of our image driven world.