When I was in fifth grade, local middle school bands would come through my elementary school in attempts to recruit. They would play to demonstrate different instruments for us. In this initial exposure of the flute, it was always played by a girl. Because of its high timbre and lightweight appearance, I usually just associated it as an instrument for girls. In middle school, I joined band as a flute player. We had one guy that had already played the flute and the piccolo for four years. Everyone made fun of him for playing the girly instrument. It never seemed to bother him though.
I went to a coed college before coming to Converse. The guy singers seemed to be a lot better than most of the female singers. The music department tended to give them more solo opportunities. Good singers in the female group were there but didn’t get much of a chance. The guys had an amazing quartet. The female vocal students had nothing like that to perform in even though there is repertoire for four part women. Careers in teaching seemed to be the only thing female music majors were being prepared for.
I attended a high school in a small town where arts were not very appreciated. Most guys played sports. They started out in middle school in band. However, once they hit high school, they joined sports teams. The ones that remained in band were not the popular ones. Of course there were several exceptions!!!! Typically the mind set was that playing in the band or singing in choir (especially singing in the choir) is not the manly thing to do. Choirs seem to have it the worst. Guys are more likely to join the band than sing. The mind set on choir from quite a bit of the population was “if you’re a guy and interested in singin', you ain't right and you must be gay.” I recently returned to my high school choir to find that because of the lack of guys, the main ensemble had become a girl’s choirs. The few guys that remained interested in choir had formed a small male ensemble. We had such a deficiency in guys at my community theatre that certain plays were not possible to do.
That's the thing about high school. Peer pressure. I know football players who play instruments. Im quite sure the guys who stopped playing instruments to join the football team still had a passion to continue with their instrument. But of course, when you're feeling pressured, your desires don't even matter.
ReplyDeleteIt is usually the first few encounters with an instrument that builds up the bias. What if when you were first presented with these instruments there was no gender bias. The way it is done now really harms our culture in the long run. Choirs, plays, careers, and all kinds of ensembles that use music are hindered.
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