The role of women in the music business will be discussed Wednesday.

The film “Who Took the Bomp? Le Tigre on Tour” will be played and discussed by audience members and four panelists.

David Gracon, an assistant professor of communication studies and one of the panelists, said the film is a documentation of the 2004-2005 world tour of the band, Le Tigre.

Le Tigre is made up of founding members Kathleen Hanna, the lead singer, and Johanna Fateman and member JD Samson.

The film follows the band across four continents and four countries, and captures their views on the male domination in the music industry.

Gracon said Le Tigre is a feminist electro punk band that uses its lyrics to comment on social issues.

“The band is very politically and socially active,” Gracon said. “Their lyrics have a lot of social commentary about social gender, especially gender dynamics and sexuality.”

Le Tigre used their music to comment on the control of men in society.

“They confront sexism and homophobia in the music industry,” Gracon said.

Gracon said he felt that this politically active feminist band was very significant.

“Ideally, they will influence future generations,” Gracon said. “It’ll give women musicians something to look up to besides just male musicians. They are creating music from a female perspective.”

Gracon said the film shows how the group fits into the male dominant music industry.

He said after the movie, the panelists will discuss some of the themes in the movie, but the audience is allowed to ask questions for discussion.

Gracon said the panel will discuss how the punk culture influence life, how Le Tigre challenged the sexual codes in punk culture, and implications of being a female band in a male dominant social sphere.

The panel consists of: Gracon; Mimi Thi Nguyen, assistant professor of Gender and Women’s Studies and Asian American Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Fiona Ngô, an assistant professor of Asian American Studies and Gender and Women’s Studies, at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; and Robert Martinez, an assistant professor of English at Eastern.

The event is sponsored by the communication studies department, the University Board, Women’s Studies, the College of Arts and Humanities, and Eastern’s film studies minor.

The event will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Lecture Hall of the Doudna Fine Arts Center.

Gracon said this film is something that could interest any student.

“I can’t guarantee that all students will be interested in it, but I think some students will be into it, especially those interested in music culture,” Gracon said.

Samantha McDaniel can be reached at 581-2812 or slmcdaniel@eiu.edu.