Where are the women?

Bat For Lashes, MIA, Feist: just a few of the femmes noticeable by their absence. Photograph: Guardian/Getty/Guardian

The nominations for the NME awards are up - all 10 million of them. (Or so it seems as you scroll through category after random category, including Biggest Villain, Sexiest Man/Woman, Best Band Blog and Most Desperate Wearer of Skinny Jeans).

As you probably know, the Arctic Monkeys dominate with seven nominations, right down to Alex Turner's appearance in the Best Dressed shortlist. (And now might not be the time to discuss this, but was Turner nominated for his everyday trackies/T-shirt look, or - I fervently hope - for his propensity for fancy dress?)

As for the rest of the nominations, they've gone to bands exactly like the Monkeys: male guitar groups. In the seven main categories, with their 35 nominees, the only women who feature are Amy Winehouse, Kate Nash and the female members of Arcade Fire. Even the Worst Band list hasn't got a single female (or non-white) contender, which is just plain ignorant when strident wannabes like Remi Nicole richly deserve a nod.

It's not as if potential candidates aren't out there. Fifteen, even 10, years ago, NME could have argued that there weren't enough female musicians to consider, but today, without going to obscure lengths, the paper could have tapped Bat for Lashes, The Ting Tings, Cat Power, CSS, Polly Harvey, MIA or Feist. Since NME hasn't explained how it chose nominees, there's no way of knowing why it overlooked New Young Pony Club who may be fronted by three women but are in almost every other way a typical "NME band".

"NME bands" fall within very narrow parameters. In the 80s, the paper prided itself on its coverage of hip hop, R&B and the emerging dance scene which it took seriously and featured prominently - alongside the usual Peel-endorsed indie fare. Now, though, its range of approved groups has dramatically shrunk to a strand embodied by the Monkeys, Babyshambles and Muse - bands who you don't need specialist knowledge to write about and who are just "indie" enough to make readers feel they're part of a club. Like everything else in publishing, this particular direction must be in response to reader demand, but it doesn't half make for a self-limiting magazine.

The guitarry New Young Pony Club are right up NME's current street - and feature in the magazine if not the awards. Although perhaps the Young Ponies should feel grateful that they haven't been nominated. Who would want to keep company with the My Chemical Romance and The Wombats?