Music and Gender
So, I've been in band since middle school. As I stated before in my first blog post, I started on woodwind before high school, where I moved to percussion. Now, I know this doesn't apply to every school or the music world as a whole, but the woodwind section from my 6th grade year to Junior year of high school was almost entirely female.
Flutes, clarinets, every kind of sax, all of them were nearly exclusively women. Except me and two other guys who were on saxophone in 6th grade (before dropping out of band the next year), the entire woodwind section was all women. I was often picked on or bullied for playing the flute, as were the other short lived male members of the woodwinds. It didn't discourage me from playing, thankfully.
Here's where I WOULD try and include some recordings of my middle school band, however I couldn't find them. When I asked my middle school band director about them, he said that they were deleted off of YouTube due to some of the music we played being copyright struck. Apologies!
Now, throughout history this notion of all woodwinds being female couldn't be more inaccurate! I consulted a large database of American woodwind instrumentalists through Wikipedia, and while I know that it does not include ALL of the notable American woodwind players, it does include many. And after looking through the data, it appears that male woodwind instrumentalists are far more common!
(Compilation of the data from Wikipedia HERE)
Despite this, many consider, say, the flute, a very feminine instrument! For example, the flute section besides myself in my middle school band was all women. In actuality, anyone with this sentiment is usually correct. Though Wikipedia does have more data on male flautists, many other sites have data showing that the flute in particular is in fact played more by women! I'd chalk this up to men simply being preferred due to misogynistic historic revisionism throughout much of American history.
However, as shown by the data above, every other woodwind instrument is actually still dominated by men in the larger world of music.
All in all, I recognize the history of gender within musical rituals and practices but believe that it's still strange how people can be categorized with something as personal as music through gender. I believe that anyone should be able to play whatever instrument they wish, regardless of their gender or other aspects of themselves.
Sources:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_saxophonists
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_clarinetists
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_flautists
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_oboists
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6706874/
- https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/latest/gender-inequality-american-orchestras/gender-gap-in-american-orchestras-7/
It is a shame that people are categorized based on the type of instrument they play. And this goes for all types of music and spans across all instrumentation. For example typically "girls play the violin and viola and the guys play cello and bass" which is so very dumb. The only instrument that I can think of that does not have much gender categorization is the piano. So all and all I completely agree with you blog but hate that its true.
ReplyDeleteYOU PLAYED THE FLUTE?!? Flute slays. I hate that everyone just assumes it’s weird, I know I was taken aback when I read this but that’s only because I knew you were a percussionist in wind ensemble. I learned in music history this year that at one point women weren’t allowed to play flute because it “distorts the face.” And I think about that a lot. Now it is mainly played by women haha. Honestly male flute players in the community are a godsend because, although it’s a stereotype, female flute players can be mean and ruthless but I have never met a guy flute player who plays flute for anything besides enjoyment.
ReplyDeleteWow, I enjoyed reading your blog! I did not realize people considered flute to be a female instrument. That is a shame those at your school had that misconception. How crazy especially when there are famous flutist such as Sir James Galway. I got to hear him live at a concert when I was 12 years old, and he was incredible!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, if you decide to read my blog, you will hopefully enjoy it since I mention how many people view the harp as a female instrument.
This gender assignment involving musical instruments has been prevalent throughout history in many countries. I'm not sure why it's been such a big deal who plays what instrument in the past, as long as the individual showed skill in their playing.
ReplyDelete