Alice Borrett
University of Hull
My name is Alice Borrett and I am working towards a PhD at the University of Hull. I first joined the University in 2015 studying for a BA in Music, and have subsequently completed a MMus. My PhD research area is within the sphere of feminist musicology, examining access for women into music. My MMus dissertation investigated the historical gender ideals that stopped women from being able to participate in musical activities to the same extent as their male counterparts. Following on from this, my thesis focuses on the gendering of musical instruments, and how gender is enacted in a way to ensure the gender divide is maintained.
This paper will examine some of the issues that women face whilst trying to access education and performance opportunities within the field of music. The relationship between music and gender has been well documented, in terms of both the representation and treatment of female musicians and the historic gendered ideas of what genres, instruments and styles are ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’. Musicologists such as Susan McClary and Suzanne Cusick have written extensively on this issue, discussing historic gender ideas of which instruments are appropriate for women, and how a piece of music can also hold gendered stereotypes.
However, whilst the interaction between music and gender has been widely studied, there is currently little research regarding how these gendered ideas can act as a barrier for women wanting to learn to play instruments that are typically considered ‘masculine’. I believe that it is imperative that we focus on studying the issue of access for women entering the musical field, for if we are able to pinpoint the factors creating these barriers, we might then be able to suggest ways to counteract them. This should then enable the creation of a more equal gender split within music whereby women have the same opportunities as men to play and succeed with any instrument they choose. The reason I believe this is an important area to study is because of the current imbalances within both classical and popular music, whereby women are not as prominent as their male counterparts.
In 2019, I examined the gender breakdown of musicians at twelve major British and eight major American orchestras, and found that across all of these 63% of players were male whilst only 37% were female. This shows that overall there is an uneven gender split within major orchestras today, however this becomes more interesting when broken down by section and instrument. There were more women than men featured in the keyboard section (17 female to 10 male players), which is to be expected as the piano has always been seen as an acceptable instrument for women. However, in every other section there were more men than women. The most equal split can be seen within the strings section where there were 421 female to 488 male players. That equates to a 46:54 split. The next section is woodwind where there were 85 female to 156 male players, which works out as a 36:65 split. Both of these splits are to be expected, as again the flute and violin have historically been popular choices for female players. However, when considering the brass section there were only 28 female to 196 male players, and in the percussion section there were only 13 female to 69 male players. Whilst I have focused here on instrumental players, it is also worth noting the gender split for conductors, whereby there were only 6 female to 52 male conductors.
These figures have demonstrated the unequal gendered split of instrumental players within the classical music field. The data shows that whilst men are well represented in every section of the orchestra, there are few women represented, particularly in the brass and percussion sections. The aim of my research is to examine the barriers that have led fewer women to learn these instruments and to continue to play them to a professional level, and to assess what changes could be made to try and encourage a more equal gendered split within orchestras today.
Many theories have been suggested to explain how gender is enacted within our society, however the one I wish to focus on today is the one that I feel is fitted to the musical field: social learning theory. This theory sets out to explain how different social factors influence the construction of gendered views in children. The theory sets out a two-sided process with the target of socialisation (the child who through these factors is taught what is expected of them for their gender) on one side and the agent of socialisation (the various social factors) on the other. The possible agents of socialisation include a child’s parents, teachers, friends, peers and the media. Each of these agents works to enforce gendered ideals onto the child, to ensure that the child acts in a way that is deemed appropriate for their gender. This does not have to be a conscious act, and instead can be enacted unconsciously through a parent or teacher’s reaction to a child stating they want to do something which is considered to be for the other gender, or a child not seeing anyone of their gender in the books they read or TV shows they watch. It is easy to see how this theory can be applied to the study of music, and a study by Harrison and O’Neil found that children show a preference for instruments which they believe correspond to the gender stereotypes they have been taught (Harrison & O’Neil, 2002). It is important to analyse these agents and how they may be enacting these gender stereotypes, for without this knowledge it would be impossible to look at ways to minimise their impact and begin to break down the barriers for women. Next are some examples of how some of these agents could work to enforce gendered stereotypes of instrumental learning.
The first possible agent of socialisation that may influence a child’s instrument choice is the child’s parents. A study by Abeles and Porter found that when parents were given the hypothetical task of choosing an instrument for their child to learn, they were likely to choose a gender appropriate instrument (Abeles & Porter, 1978). This is likely to be caused by an unconscious bias from the parents, whereby they are not actively trying to make their child conform to gender stereotypes but instead these stereotypes were instilled into them and so they are just passing them down unwittingly to their child. A parent may influence a child’s decision not just by suggesting certain instruments but also simply through the way they react when their child tells them they want to learn a specific instrument (i.e. happy if it is gender-conforming or questioning if it is not). A child’s parents are obviously one of the major sources a child uses to learn what is right or wrong, and so it is likely that the response from a parent on instrumental choice will have a strong impact on the child.
Secondly, it is important to consider the child’s teacher, and whether they could act as an agent of socialisation. Research by Johnson and Stewart has shown that knowing the gender of a student did not have an impact on the instrument that band directors recommended for their students (Abeles, 2009). This would suggest that teachers are not acting as agents of socialisation here, which could be because they are aware of the gender stereotyping within music and thus are actively trying to avoid enforcing it. However, it is also important to recognise that the teacher can also act as a role model for the child, and if the child sees that the woodwind teacher is female and the brass teacher is male, this may subconsciously influence the child’s decision as to the section from which they should choose an instrument.
A child’s peers can act as a very important agent of socialisation, as children typically want to fit in and be accepted by their peers. Research has shown that musical instrument preference can be peer-influenced, with a link being found between instrument preference and peer conformity (Kevin Droe, 2008). This could mean that if a young girl was interested in learning the trombone, but all of her friends had chosen to play the flute or clarinet, the young girl would be likely to abandon playing the trombone to join her friends and ‘fit in’.
Finally, it is important to consider the role of the media as an agent of socialisation. Little research has been undertaken regarding this, however it seems likely that the media a child is exposed to may act as a significant agent. This again links to the idea of the role model, whereby if a child looks up to a character on TV or a particular musician they may begin to attempt to imitate that person and this will, therefore, have an influence on the child’s preferences (Jane Pilcher, 1999). For example, if a young girl sees only male drummers on TV shows or in books, then that child is likely to ignore the drums, assuming they are not ‘for her’, whereas if a child sees a musician of their own gender that they really look up to and admire playing the violin, that child is likely to want to imitate their role model and also want to learn to play the violin. The reason this particular agent of socialisation may be so significant is because as a society our lives are media-saturated and children may be exposed to an almost unlimited and unending reel of images and information from media sources such as TV, films, magazines, books and social media.
These examples show how each of these agents can work independently to enforce gender stereotypes and can individually begin to create obstacles for young girls wanting to learn a musical instrument. However, even more concerning is when you consider that all of these agents are being enacted in tandem and their synergy could create an overarching barrier whereby young girls are reminded from all the main agents in their life what is and is not appropriate for their gender. Once these agents and the methods used to enforce gendered ideals have been identified, it is then possible to begin to look at ways to minimise the impact these can have in order to create a more balanced gender split within instrumental learning and playing.
Possible solutions may include addressing the subconscious biases that are held by the general public regarding music and instrumental choice. As mentioned earlier, parents, for example, may be perpetuating these stereotypes subconsciously without knowing that there is even an issue of gender within music. By actively working to address this issue, the hope would be that parents would be more open to encouraging their children to pursue any instrument (in the same way that many parents now actively work to avoid the ‘pink or blue’ and playing with dolls or cars stereotypes that have been perpetuated in the past).
Another possible solution is to actively encourage diversity within the media, to ensure that all children have a role model to look up to and can see that anyone of any gender can play whichever instrument they choose. This could also be followed up with active sessions within school settings where musicians of both genders demonstrate instruments to young children.
Bibliography:
Abeles, H. (2009). ‘Are Musical Instrument Gender Associations Changing?’ Journal Of Research In Music Education. 57(2). 127–139.
Abeles, H.F. and Porter, S.Y. (1978). ‘The Sex-Stereotyping Of Musical Instruments.’ Journal Of Research In Music Education. 26(2). 65–75.
Droe, K.L. (2008). ‘The Effect Of Teacher Approval And Disapproval Of Music Performed In A Rehearsal Setting On Music Preferences.’ Journal Of Research In Music Education. 56(3). 267–278.
Harrison, A.C. and O’Neill, S.A. (2002). ‘The Development Of Children’s Gendered Knowledge And Preferences In Music.’ Feminism & Psychology.12(2). 145–152.
Pilcher, J. (1999). ‘Scripting Femininities: Popular Media Culture’ in Women In Contemporary Britain. London: Routledge. 110–129.