As an avid supporter of Australia’s emerging artists, Scarlett Di Maio has worked with numerous artists and arts workers through the areas of promotion, publicity, producing, management, event production, curation and communications since 2008. Scarlett primarily works to support emerging, independent and DIY artists and actively provides new platforms for live performance in Sydney. In 2010, Scarlett was the co-creator of SMAC-nominated event EclipseFest, before she joined MAPS Entertainment in 2011, through which she produced several FBi Radio fundraiser events, including most notably the SMAC award winning Changing Lanes Festival. More recently Scarlett was the publicist for digital record label Wood + Wire, and she is currently the communications officer at peak body MusicNSW, the co-founder and executive producer (and occasional host) of FBi Radio’s multi-award winning experimental program Ears Have Ears, and she's one of the Co-Directors of Dirty Shirlows, a SMAC-winning arts collective in Marrickville. She is also a promoter in her own right, under the moniker Red Door.
What does feminism mean to you? Honestly, I am quite divided on the issue. In one way, I feel like all women should naturally be a feminist if they care at all about women's rights - not just as it relates to themselves, but to those women less fortunate in our international community. But in another way, I've always felt like I could best relate to PJ Harvey on the issue, who once stated, "I wouldn't call myself a feminist because I don't understand the term or the baggage it takes along with it…I'd much rather just get on and do things the way I have been doing them." I've always found her stance on feminism inspirational and relatable, and that's the attitude I have carried with me through my teens and twenties, particularly as I entered the music business. But I'm no fool, I realise how blessed I am that feminism hasn't been as relevant to me as it is to so many other women across the world. I'm lucky enough to have grown up in a family, workplace and community that has never made me feel like a second class citizen because of my gender.
At the end of the day, I can only speak based on my own personal experiences, and I still recognise that we have a long way to go in regards to woman's rights, and I will always advocate for gender equality. Because it's obvious and just the way it should be. I have huge respect for women (and men!) who fight loudly and passionately for equality. I wouldn't be in the position I am in life if it wasn't for those who fought in the past for my right to have it. I guess feminism just means something different to everyone, depending on who they are and what cards they are dealt in this life.
