Traditionally, women working in the music industry aren't supposed to be rock critics or writers. The majority of women are in public relations or retail -- baby-sitting bands and answering phones is as close as they get to their heroes. If you are a woman, to get into the biz, you gotta wanna chat.

Spin Copy Editor Gail O'Hara calls PR the "female ghetto of the music industry." The majority of women are in publicity because the money is steadier and there are more jobs available to them, said Ann Powers, a senior editor at The Village Voice.

They do the grunt work. You wouldn't know who they are.

"Very few women are running record companies. Very few women are magazine editors," said Kim Neely, senior writer at Rolling Stone magazine.

Some women go into PR or secretarial work as the only way to get onto a publication's masthead. Neely said she wanted to work at Rolling Stone but was a typist for four years before she got a word published. Her first article was a review of a Poison album.

Along with Neely, Lauren Spencer worked as a Rolling Stone editorial assistant before becoming an editor at Spin, Powers was a clerk at Tower Records in San Francisco before she became a writer, O'Hara was a receptionist at Washington, D.C.'s City Paper before she was hired at Spin . . .

Neely said even though she was on the "inside," she wasn't encouraged.

"It was interesting because I had a lot of people at the magazine tell me that I would never be promoted, and if I wanted to write, I should go somewhere else," Neely said.

Sexual harassment is more prevalent in retail and PR because women have no power. It presents a bigger problem because women on the clerical beat work in a confined workplace, Powers said.

"You have to deal with it on a daily basis," Powers said. "Now that I'm on my own, I don't encounter the same people, and when I worked in retail I did."

Since the early '80s, many women have bucked the system and formed their own fanzines instead of going the PR route. Through their 'zines, they can be more personal and political without the hassle of an editor.

Washington Post Music Editor Richard Harrington said male editors tend to dislike personal writing, that they "tend to emphasize critism as opposed to content and style."

Eventually women got jobs because of their work in 'zines. Free-lancer Karen Schoemer and Sassy Editor Christina Kelly started out writing in 'zines, and Sassy's Washington Bureau Chief Erin Smith still does her 'zine Teenage Gang Debs.

"Women had a much easier time breaking in there than breaking in on the Pat Benatar level," Schoemer said.

O'Hara said she started her 'zine Chickfactor because she is so discouraged about how she and other women are treated at Spin, who added the "old school" mentality is firmly entrenched. O'Hara described her 'zine as everything a male critic wouldn't like.

In Chickfactor's latest issue, it features "covergals" and "cool guitar girls du jour" like Unrest's bassist Bridget Cross and Amelia Fletcher, Heavenly's lead singer and guitarist. It's a far cry from Spin.

O'Hara said she thinks male critics view music only through a "macho" viewpoint. Bands that don't meet the proper testosterone levels inevitably get put down. If it's not aggressive and loud, it's not good. Even bands that are overtly female, such as L7 and Hole, are "machoized."

But female critics, who grew up writing 'zines, have begun to change the aesthetics of rock journalism.

"I think it had to happen, we're just reaching an age when their perception of music is becoming obsolete," said Schoemer, a critic for The New York Times and columnist for Mirabella. "In this day and age, I don't think the perspective of a 45-year-old white guy is what we want."

Many more women are filling editor positions. Along with Powers and O'Hara, Sue Cummings is the music editor at the L.A. Weekly, Karen Johnston is a Rolling Stone senior editor, Holly George-Warren is editor of Rolling Stone Press, Tara McKelvey is a features editor at Spin, and Lisa Kennedy is the arts editor at the Voice.

Despite the gradual shifts on mastheads, Harrington said positions of editorial power are slow to open up because those positions earn the most money and bylines; few are willing to give up their space for a woman. "Subliminally, you may think it's a closed field."

For Cummings, hiring more female critics is a personal priority.

"Affirmative action, I feel a special duty for that," Cummings said.

Some women may be calling for affirmative action, but don't call female critics a "sisterhood." Cummings said she believes women are still not supporting each other enough.

"I think it's the nature of sexism. Like any 'ism,' it pits the oppressed against each other," Cummings said. "I think there's a lot of competition for that one slot, the token female."

Because tokenism does exist, envy can get in the way of mutual appreciation. When free-lancer Lorraine Ali picks up a magazine, she said the first thing she does is count how many women's bylines appear. Although Ali said she's pleased when she finds a lot of female critics between the pages, but still gets the nagging feeling of, "Why didn't I get that?"

"I want some work," Ali said, punctuating her confession.

Envy can come up, especially when you don't know the writer. Ali said she hasn't met many other female critics. "I've read Ann Powers' writing, but I've never met her," Ali said.

Since most female critics are free-lance writers and therefore work all over the country, it leaves little opportunity for developing bonds. But some are trying to change all that.

Powers said she's trying to form a group for women in the music industry comparable to the Black Rock Coalition based in New York City. Powers said the group would be a chance for women to air grievances about working in the "boy's club."

In a little less formal way, every Wednesday night, O'Hara calls to order what she jokingly refers to as the "foxcore club." O'Hara coordinated this weekly get-together among her female friends in the music biz three months ago as an informal support group.

Watching the "Beverly Hills 90210" episode of the night or going out for coffee are not out of the question. O'Hara says what they do is not the point, it's the fact that they meet that matters. Her rap sessions are important as an outlet to talk about problems, such as dealing with male editors. But, of course, it's mostly on the lighter side.

"We do end up sitting and talking about music," O'Hara says. "We talk about boys too."