Music and Gender

My whole life I’ve been exposed to music, thus I’ve been exposed to an idea that different instruments and different types of music were based on what gender you were. I always saw that girls typically played lighter instruments, such as the flute or the clarinet, while boys played the louder, more robust instruments, such as the trumpet or drums. I particularly remember being in marching band and there was only one girl in the percussion section. There was also only one girl in the trumpet section. Our woodwind section was made up of mostly girls and our brass section was made up of mostly guys. I never understood why, but it seemed to be the case wherever I went.

I was also in chorus from the time I was in third grade. There were always more girls and I think the biggest factor was that other guys would pick on the boys that were in chorus (mostly during the middle school years). Some of these bullies decided that singing should be left for the girls and anyone that thought differently was thought to be less “masculine” than the ones that weren’t in chorus. I always thought the boys thought the boys that were in chorus were better anyway! I don’t remember what any of the boys listened to, but I do remember that they would never be caught dead talking about the pop princesses that so many of the girls seemed to be obsessed with. It was just “gross” to them!

With my church experience, I have always had a live band playing the music in service. The male more often than not sings the lead vocals accompanied by the acoustic guitar. There are typically two bass guitarists, a keyboardist, a drummer, and some background vocals. Every person, with the exception of the background vocals, is a male. I don’t really know why this is the case either, but I always find it interesting!

Now, on with how I experience music here at Converse! It is completely different than anything I’ve experienced before. I deal with the fact that I am automatically put in a choir that is all women my freshman year and most likely my sophomore year. I have not sung with just women since I was in eighth grade. It’s taking a good bit to get used to. I also love listening to different singers and realizing what I like and what I don’t like. It is great to have so many different voice types and different teaching styles to observe. I really enjoy that aspect. I always wish there were a few more male voices on campus though!