Online Class Discussion #5 is open for comments March 6-12. The rubric I’ll be using to grade your participation and a description of these assignments is available here.
In the classical music world, just as in other fields, women have been present and made significant contributions as long as the profession has existed. However, women as a group generally have not been acknowledged or lauded to the degree or consistency that men have been in the field. The emphasis on male musicians in the field (as composers, conductors, and top performers) paints a picture that making classical music is a man’s activity and that all the greatest achievements are done by men and by men only, and this has repercussions for how classical music evolves and remains relevant (or not).
[Side note #1: Men have obviously had some fantastic musical moments; we’ve listened to a lot of them in class. They just don’t have a monopoly on musical ability, and addressing non-male contributions and the difficulty women have in asserting their value in this field is the focus of this online discussion.]
[Side note #2: Everything that applies to women in this online discussion applies to other kinds of minorities, too. The content of this course has skewed heavily, nay exclusively, to music by dead white guys — this is a bit of a selection effect, since the topic of the course is Western music, and for the historical periods we’ve covered so far, the European population historically consists of approximately 50% dead white guys — but in addition to that, the social structures that benefit white men in European society, allowing them to become musically trained, present concerts, publish music, and earn money, are often the same structures that make the same activities difficult for their non-white, non-male counterparts.]
In many ways, this discussion is a deeper dive into James Baldwin’s assertion (there he is again!) that we are living within structures and systems that control our lives in a very real way:
“The great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do.” —James Baldwin, 1965
Can music sound “feminine”?
Listen to the two works below. Does one of them sound more “feminine” than the other? What musical features seem “masculine” (i.e., manly or likely made by a man), and which seem “feminine” (i.e., womanly or likely made by a woman)?
Piece #1:
Piece #2:
What is sexism?
Sexism refers to using a person’s sex as a basis for prejudice, discrimination, or stereotyping. It includes stereotypes such as women are kind and men are strong, and it begins early in life: baby clothes and toys are color-coded, blue for boys and pink for girls, although at the beginning of the 20th century pink was for boys, and some parents today reject this binary in favor of “neutral” colors like yellow and green. Sexism influences our perceptions of ourselves, our abilities, and our roles in society: boys who feel they have to be good at sports, or girls who think they’ll never be good at math or science. Here’s an entry the pianist-composer Clara Schumann wrote in her own diary:
“I once believed that I possessed creative talent, but I have given up this idea; a woman must not desire to compose—there has never yet been one able to do it. Should I expect to be the one?” – Clara Schumann, 1839
Sexism frames and shapes romantic or sexual interactions (telling women that they should smile more because it will make them look pretty, expecting men to be gentlemen who hold doors open or pay for dates) as well as our attitudes towards activities in which gender is not obviously an issue (perceiving male professors as being more intelligent or capable than female ones, questioning whether women can hold political office because they are too emotional or not emotional enough, arguing that women should hold political office because they are more compassionate). It’s also worth noticing that the sexist stereotypes and presumptions we as a society express are often contradictory and shift over time — they are not fixed, they can be changed, and they are something that we collectively invent based on what we believe, perceive, or need at the time.
[Side note #3: The terms “sex” and “gender” are often used interchangeably in day-to-day conversation, but they refer to slightly different things. Sex is biological: chromosomes, hormones, and sex organs. Gender is socially-defined: the way that we present masculinity or femininity outwardly in terms of behavior, clothing, and social roles. When we talk about sexism, we’re really often talking about gender-ism — interactions based on 1) what we perceive people’s gender to be, and 2) what we expect them to do as a representative of their gender. But “genderism” is an awkward word and a more subtle distinction than we need to make right now.]
Legal hurdles and socially-constructed assumptions about women have prevented them from rising to prominence in the classical music field:
- Fears that playing wind instruments would disfigure women’s faces and seemed too much like phallic objects in their mouths;
- Women being legally the property of their husbands and unable conduct business on their own; and
- Notions of domesticity, that a woman’s place is in the home, and believing that women will stop being inherently feminine if they are employed in any kind public work:
“Gentlemen may employ their hours of business in almost any degrading occupation and, if they have the means of supporting a respectable establishment at home, may be gentlemen still; while, if a lady but touch any article, no matter how delicate, in the way of trade, she loses caste, and ceases to be a lady.” –Sarah Stickney Ellis (1812-72)
Musical training was often seen as a way to make women more attractive or marriageable, not a foundation for a professional career. And the domination of the professional music world by men is tradition, the way it’s seemingly always been. Such long-standing beliefs about the physical capabilities of women and men led the Russian conductor Yuri Temirkanov to say in 2012 that women could never be real conductors because “The essence of the conductor’s profession is strength. The essence of a woman is weakness.”
Assumptions about what people of a particular gender can or cannot do, or should or should not do, create the social structures in which we live. In terms of the classical music world, such structures have the effect of maintaining the illusion that classical musicians could only be men. Here’s how this works:
- If women are assumed not to be musical, professional, or competent, then they will either 1) self-censor and not pursue their musical interests, or 2) not be admitted into the best music schools or receive the best training.
- If women not admitted into the best schools, they will have a smaller chance of building the network of peers and mentors that will help them secure the best jobs and reptuation.
- If women are not holding professional positions of power, influence, or respect, then they cannot mentor or guide another generation of students to follow in their footsteps; they cannot be advocates for younger candidates because they aren’t seated on a school’s admission committee or a professional organization’s job hiring committee. There aren’t enough of them to exert their leverage to insist on equal pay, family leave, or other issues that an all-male governing board might overlook (but that would be a barrier for other women to enter or remain in the workforce).
Add to these structures any additional prejudicial beliefs about women or their abilities, and it’s not hard to see why there have been so few women in leadership or famous positions in the professional classical music world historically. (If you re-read these bullet points and substitute any other minority group — a racial, ethnic, or sexual orientation minority group, for example — you would also have an explanation for why this group of people traditionally has been excluded from the professional classical music world.)
An anecdote: Abbie Conant
In one particularly egregious example of gender-based prejudice clouding people’s assessment of talent or ability, sexism derailed and marred the career of Abbie Conant. Conant is an American trombone player who played in the Münich Philharmonic (Germany) in the 1980s and 1990s.
Orchestral auditions take place behind a screen so that the auditioning committee cannot see the performer; it allows them to hire the player who sounds the best rather than being persuaded by seeing someone they know, being affected by the player’s physical gestures, or discriminating based on gender or race. Conant won her position (solo trombone) with the Münich Philharmonic in 1980 and was approved by the other members of the orchestra during both her audition and her first year with the orchestra, but the conductor of the orchestra refused to let her play the role that she had won, instead insisting that she play second to another male trombonist because he believed that only a man could really handle the role:
“You know the problem: we need a man for solo trombone.” —Sergiu Celibidache, General Music Director of the Münich Philharmonic
Conant was officially demoted to the position of second trombone in 1982 by the Music Director (a position that requires substantially more work but earns significantly less pay), and she sued. Over the next 11 years, she and the orchestra were embroiled in a legal battle (involving court appearances nearly ever year), and she had to complete several arduous tests and tasks in order to be able to play in the position she had already won:
- 1982: Orchestra leadership argued that Conant did not “possess the necessary strength to be a leader of the trombone section.” By her husband’s account, she “underwent extensive medical testing to measure the capacity of her lungs and the speed at which she could inhale and exhale air. She had blood drawn from her ear to see how efficiently her body absorbed oxygen. She stripped and let a doctor examine her rib cage and chest. She also solicited forty-three testimonials of her musicianship from guest conductors and other musicians.”
- 1987: The court ordered Conant to play for another trombone professional to assess her physical strength, endurance, and durability. She was required to play a series of the most difficult excerpts from the orchestral repertoire, all of which were chosen by the Music Director. In her re-audition, which was more rigorous or demanding than any regular audition (including the one she had already won in 1980), she played each excerpt several times, altering her performance each time to meet the auditor’s instructions to vary the style, dynamics, phrasing, and vibrato. The auditor’s court report praised her playing fully (and also required a $2,200 court payment from Conant):
“She is a wind player with an outstandingly well-trained embouchure, i.e., lip musculature, that enables her to produce controlled tone production in connection with a controlled breath flow, and which gives her the optimal use of her breath volume. Her breathing technique is very good and makes her playing, even in the most difficult passages, superior and easy. In this audition she showed sufficient physical strength, endurance, and breath volume, and above and beyond that, she has enormously solid nerves. This, paired with the above mentioned wind-playing qualities, puts her completely in the position to play the most difficult phrases in a top orchestra, holding them out according to the conductor’s directions for adequate length and intensity, as well as strength.” —Heinz Fadle
- 1988: The court ruled in her favor, and Conant was reinstated to her position of solo trombone. The orchestra, however, refused to pay her at a soloist level until ordered to do so specifically by the court.
- 1990; The orchestra created a special lower solo category to pay her less than her other 15 (male) soloist colleagues in the orchestra.
- 1993: The court ruled that Conant should be in the same pay category as her colleagues, finally allowing her to truly say, 13 years after joining the orchestra, that she was its solo trombone. Unsurprisingly, she then left the orchestra and accepted a prestigious (and less litigious) position at the State Conservatory of Music in Trossingen (Germany). The Münich Philharmonic hired a seventeen-year-old man who had no prior orchestral experience as her replacement.
Conant’s story is not unique, either. In the Pittsburgh Symphony, trombonist Rebecca Bower was similarly relegated to playing second after winning a principal position by a male conductor. French horn player Helen Kotas was the first woman appointed to a principal position on any instrument except harp in the US in 1941, but she left the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1948 after being demoted to third horn, and the orchestra currently has no women in principal positions. Tina Ward, a clarinet player, was complimented in her audition for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in 1970 precisely because she didn’t “sound like a woman.”
In the top orchestras in the US, women make up only 25-30% of the players, on average, a large increase from around 5% in the 1970s. The shift isn’t due to affirmative action but rather a switch to blind auditions (behind screens). Screens don’t hide the sounds of shoes or musicians’ breaths, so there is still opportunity for gender bias in the process, but the implication is that when gender is largely taken off the table, well-trained women are as competent as their male counterparts.
There is still a disparity in terms of prestigious positions within orchestras and the classical music world. Most conductors and most principal or solo positions in orchestras in the US, Europe, and Asia are held by men (except for harp, a position which is almost always held by women). Tenured professorships at prestigious universities and conservatories are more often held by men while women are more commonly found at smaller, less well-known schools or in adjunct positions.
Gender and musical meaning
Gender shapes how people perceive and talk about classical music. Sex is more often used to sell albums for female classical music performers and reviews of female performers — and reviewers are mostly male — often discuss what clothes they wore (which is almost never the case for male performers). Women are also more often and more harshly judged for their appearance:
Overweight men in opera, who sang lead roles, could pretty much expect to be judged on their voice and their acting, with no mention of their size. But a large woman would always be criticized for her size, often before any comment was made about her voice or acting. — Deborah Voigt, soprano
Gender perceptions also affect the way classical music sounds is described. Composer Missy Mazzoli (b. 1980) notes that the same piece is often described using very different vocabulary choices, whether the audience thinks it was written by a man or woman:
“I have a friend, a composer, who told me, ‘When a man writes something lyrical it’s seen as brave and courageous, but when a woman does it it’s seen as sentimental and indulgent.’ This was in the late ’90s and she was commenting on how sexist the new music community was. I’d like to say that times have changed, but I think this is still totally true.” — Missy Mazzoli
There also exists gender bias in terms of what music is performed on classical music concerts. In the current 2016-17 season, 14 of the top 21 US orchestras didn’t program a single work by a female composer; in 2014-15 of all the works played by the top orchestras, only 14.8% were composed by women. The 2017-18 season overall won’t be much better:
- Detroit Symphony, music by 46 composers (47 are men, 34 are dead)
- Philadelphia Orchestra, music by 50 composers (49 are men, 42 are dead)
- Indianapolis Symphony, music by 34 composers (34 are men, 32 are dead)
- Milwaukee Symphony, music by 34 composers (30 are men, 26 are dead)
- Los Angeles Philharmonic, music by 58 composers (49 are men, 35 are dead)
It’s worse in the movie industry: from 1999-2004, only 2.4% of the 500 top-grossing films had scores written by female composers; women are commonly only asked to write scores that can appeal to other women.
All of this means that young women and girls who attend orchestra concerts (unlikely, but possible) won’t see role models that they can follow, and the same is true for all minority groups: the message is that white men are the ones who are successful, a lesson that can be extrapolated to the world beyond music. And the rest of the audience? They’re being fed the message that classical music is a (dead) white man’s world.
Notable women in Western music history
Despite all of this, there are some notable women who have been excellent composers, performers, teachers, and conductors, and here’s a list of women that you might be interested in learning more about:
- Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) — An abbess who, in addition to composing liturgical music, was also an expert on science and medicine and received prophetic visions
- The Ladies of Ferrara — An ensemble of highly-talented noblewomen who sang in the courts of the Medici family (Italy)during the Renaissance
- Francesca Caccini (1547-c.1645) — An Italian noblewoman who played lute and was also a singer, poet, and the first female opera composer
- Barbara Strozzi (1619-77) — A singer and composer from Venice, Italy
- Anna Magdalena Bach (1701-60) — Johann Sebastian Bach’s second wife, a composer in her own right, who wrote the manuscript copies of many of Bach’s works
- Louise Farrenc (1804-75) — One of the best French 19th composers, Farrenc was the second-ever female professor at the Paris Conservatory, but she was only allowed to teach piano and not composition
- Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-47) — An admired pianist and composer; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in a letter to her younger brother, the composer Felix Mendelssohn, wrote “give my regards to your equally talented sister.” Although people admired her compositions, the family persuaded her not to publish them so that she could continue to fulfill her role of being a “dutiful daughter and sister.”
- Clara Schumann (1819-96) — A remarkable pianist and composer whose married life was wholeheartedly devoted to her husband, the composer Robert Schumann, and his professional needs, rather than her own career. In their house, he had dibs on the piano for his composition, and he could practice only when it wouldn’t bother him. Nevertheless, she premiered every one of his works that included piano and programmed his music on all her international tours, and when he was committed to a mental institution, she supported the entire family (8 children!) by touring across Europe well into her 70s and publishing critical editions of Robert’s works.
- Jenny Lind (1820-87) — a Swedish soprano referred to affectionately by the press and her fans as “The Swedish Nightingale” and who helped popularize opera in the US by being one of the first famous European musicians to tour in America
- Amy Beach (1867-1944) — One of the first American symphonic composers
- Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979) — A French composer, conductor, organ player, and one of the most influential teachers of the 20th century. Nearly every major American composer of the early 20th century went to her studio in Paris to finish their training, among others: Martin Amlin, Burt Bacharach, Daniel Barenboim, Elliott Carter, Aaron Copland, Ingolf Dahl, David Diamond, Irving Fine, John Eliot Gardiner, Philip Glass, Quincy Jones, Leo Kraft, Per Nørgård, Astor Piazzolla, Walter Piston, Virgil Thomson
- Gwynne Kimpton (1873-1930) — One of the first female orchestra conductors. When she conducted the British Women’s Symphony Orchestra in 1924, the performance was not taken seriously and given harsh reviews. A clipping of one such review is available here.
- Marian Anderson (1897-1993) — A Black American singer who was barred from performing in the US due to racism and instead made her career in Europe. When a concert promoter arranged a performance for her in 1939 at the Daughters of the American Revolution hall, and Anderson was banned from singing because of a whites-only clause in the organization’s contract; the performance was moved to the steps of the Washington Monument where she sang for 75,000 people.
- Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901-53) — An edgy and unapologetic experimental American composer
- Jane Little (1929-2016) — A double bass player who, at the time of her death in 2016, was the longest-serving musician in any American orchestra, having held her position in the Atlanta Symphony for 71 years. She died onstage during a performance in May.
- Jessye Norman (b. 1945) — An American opera singer
- Marin Alsop (b. 1956) — The first female conductor of a major American orchestra (Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, 2007) and the first female conductor at the BBC’s annual Proms (2003)
- Claire Chase (b. 1978) — A flutist who began the successful new-music collective International Contemporary Ensemble, also known as ICE. She won a MacArthur Genius Grant for her entrepreneurial skills in 2012.
- Some additional living, working female composers: Chen Yi, Unsuk Chin, Valerie Coleman, Gabriela Lena Frank, Jennifer Higdon, Bun-Ching Lam, Tania León, Missy Mazzoli, Meredith Monk, Shulamit Ran, Belinda Reynolds, Kaija Saariaho, Hilary Tann, Joan Tower, Ellen Taafe Zwilich
Also, here’s a free 78-hour playlist of music by female composers over the last 1,200 years, featuring the women in this list and others.
Final thoughts
Sexism hurts classical music — it creates barriers that prevent certain musicians from participating, from making music, or from becoming widely known. It also contributes to the sense that classical music is irrelevant in today’s society. Part of what makes classical music seem irrelevant is its sense of stodgy tradition, and one of the ways that this sense of tradition is expressed is in the ways women (and others) have been unwelcome in its world. It’s difficult — but certainly not impossible — to appeal to audiences if they can’t see a bit of themselves in the music, and classical music has been behind the times in terms of acknowledging, supporting, and celebrating the range of musicians in its midst.
-Dr. J.
Questions to get the conversation started:
- What musical sounds seem “masculine” or “feminine” to you?
- How have you seen gender affect people’s behavior, judgment, or opinions?
- In what ways do you think art and music can transcend or erase gender issues?
- How are your experiences with music different than those of someone of a different gender?
P.S. The first piece in the discussion was by a man: Frédéric François Chopin (1810-1849), Nocturne Op. posth. 72 No. 1 in E minor (1827), and the second piece was by a woman: Clara Schumann (1819-96), Scherzo No. 1 in D minor, Op. 10 (1838). Were you surprised to learn the composers’ genders?
Dr. Jones' Music Classes 
This is for question four. My experience with music today is that most rap stars and hip-hop stars always discriminate the female gender by calling them inappropriate words (I don’t know if I can say these words here for an example). These type of music can cause the Male gender to change from good to bad and making them treat the girls exactly how the singers describe them in their song. Even if the rap star or hip-hop star did not want this to happen, it still happens. Some females do not care what the song says most of the time but some do and those female who don’t know any better might feel disgusted with themselves or have hatred towards the rap-star or hip-hop star.
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This is a question mostly towards the females but guys can answer it to because we got songs that shame us guys but not more then the female gender. How do you feel or think when you listen to a popular song that shames your gender?
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Ive heard quite a few songs that have shamed my gender and some things assumed about the male gender that are personally not true, such as all guys are cheaters and dumb and all turn out to be disappointments in the end. Hearing things like that forces me to want to raise awareness to all males so females would quit assuming that these flaws apply to all men.
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If I listen to a popular song that shames my gender, I will report it, because on the network has a function of reporting, isn’t it?
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If you report that will there be any changes later? I ask because I have no experience on the reporting on the network.
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I have no expierence at all reporting on network so I came across this question as well?
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Ohh I see
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@jamesnificent..Songs that are about females are never about her intelligence or capabilities, its always about big butts and breasts. Women are belittled even today. It upsetting that women are seen as objects.
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I totally agree. Street harassment Catcalling being valued for your looks instead of your brains, rape and assault and employment discrimination are all type of sexism. That women have to go though everyday. Women had been today that watch you wears so you attract the wrong kind of attention. Society should make it that men should have the right to attack or judge women just by the way she dress. Ideally. We can take steps to work towards it.
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im not sure how it feels but if i were to put myself in a woman shoes i would feel very disrespected. its bad enough they call them out of there name already
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Yeah… it sounds surprising and very foolish that so many women in the music industry accept that. Think of it, sometimes if you call a girl by something normal like her name, or something romantic, she feels like you are outdated and not in trend. But when you call her by some ugly stinking foul names (which y’all I believe know), she feels honored and perceive you as a trendy girl. This happens most in the hip hop music world.
The worst part is that, it is getting serious in America as people don’t even know the difference anymore. The media is also helping to worsen the problem because women are used for purpose of advertisements. You know, objectified for money. It’s not like I’m disputing the idea of using ladies for advert but what’s the motive behind that?
It goes back to the comment I left on this thread that this menace has been sown into our blood that the world is seeing it as normal and true.
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I like where this is going. Can you name a few songs which you think so?
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from the music in “can music sound feminine?” in my opinion neither the first or second piece sounded fully feminine but if i had to chose one i would say that the first song sounded more feminine than the second the reason for that is basically that the first piece was more easy going i guess and sort of fluent like and fancy when you listen to it you don’t get much machismo except for maybe the beginning where it starts on a low minor note i mean it sounds sad in a way but its calming also like women where seen around that time elegant and delicate as for the second piece it was more not rough exactly but it definitely sounded a bit more masculine because of how fast it went it kind of reminds you of a silent movie where theres just a song playing while the men are doing something in this case i would imagine running because of how it starts with a fast pace in the piano it sounds more masculine because of the sound i can’t describe to bit it is played liken 1:50 into the song like a tararara TARA tararara TARA and so on and that sound gives it more of a masculine touch.
ok onto sexism i believe and have alway’s believed that the role women are expected to play is a ridiculous thing one is who and how s/he is not what society wants them to be this is exactly what i meant in the online discussion about ballet and how men weren’t dancing anymore because they are expected to be tough and into sports i mean thats ridiculous and it makes me so mad sometimes because through history this has changed but yet even in today’s society it still affects behaviors and beliefs theres this thought that men are always supposed to pay as stated in the text and they have to work and maintain the fact that women are only supposed to smile and “look pretty isn’t something i agree with theres even somethings I’ve heard that when your texting your boyfriend he has to be the one to write to you first because its their job to look for you or something like that you can’t text first because you don’t want to seem desperate like thats crazy and as i read the article it stated that in marrige music was used to make women seem more attractive and beautiful ok thats a question for later hold on to that anyway’s afterwards i was offended but not surprised to read that women where discriminated as composers because composing music was a strength and women where weak and delicate i mean if you look at society today there are a ton of female singers and composers sides for back then what better way to make music sound famine than a women composing it herself? this is how I’ve seen both women and men behavior change heck even my mom judges me sometimes for how i behave or how i eat or i gotta keep the house clean which ok I’m not saying thats not true i mean everyone has to be decent and all but my point is gender rolls should be dicrimitative like that
the gender and musical meanings section states something very interesting and true that caught my attention ““I have a friend, a composer, who told me, ‘When a man writes something lyrical it’s seen as brave and courageous, but when a woman does it it’s seen as sentimental and indulgent.’ This was in the late ’90s and she was commenting on how sexist the new music community was. I’d like to say that times have changed, but I think this is still totally true.” — Missy Mazola” no this phrase is and isn’t true today there are men who write all courageous songs but there also love songs written by men there are sentimental as well and very popular just as there are female artists who’s songs and the message of the song is not sentimental and sad but rather courageous and strong i believe that one way that music has effected gender roles is by the freedom of being a guy and listening to love songs or sentimental songs or how you can be be a girl and listen to rock ,metal or punk i mean guys and girls aren’t discriminated by what style of music they prefer because music itself doesn’t discriminate the listener the same goes for composing there are many women who are musicians, singers, composer’s, choir directors and so much more girls play an instrument whether the piano or the electric guitar as do boy’s and with music there is no stronger or weaker it more of a ‘how do you interpret this song or music style’ because as the listeners we’re not judged or forced to listen to something specific but men and women are still different and they interpret music differently as well they have different opinions and different points of view i guess what I’m trying to say is men and women aren’t gonna be 100% the same their not only different genders but their different people but even so we should be treated equally
well i find that my experience with music with a different gender is rather effective in a way what i mean by this is that we all have different likes and dislikes but we can also have common likes and not even notice them until they are brought out in the open. when i was little and lived in my hometown i had a lot of cousins all male so i basically grew up with all guy cousins I’m not your everyday average girl I’ve never liked or watched barbie or power puff girls or i don’t even know what shows where giving for small girls back then i watched wrestling and i played wrestling with my cousins as well as soccer and other games anyway my point is that it wasn’t only the fact that i was surrounded by boy’s that affected my choices , my activities and my likes it was me myself it was because i liked doing all that other stuff rather than playing princess when i was brought here for example nothing much changed sure i played with barbies every now and then all i really did was their hair but i kept thinking about sports and the fun i had with these new shows that came i could’ve chosen tp watch them since i no longer had a male influence rather here i mostly had females but i chose not to because i didn’t like it it wasn’t me anyway I’m getting way out of line so getting back on track me and one of my cousins are very close we both love music and we both have impact on each other with music he loves rock and all of that i like pop so we kind of share and exchange our likings he made me realize that not all rock music is the same there are different types and i grew font of that genre and i made him realize that there are different types of pop that are close to rock like music so we shared talents and music he was better at the guitar than i am so he’d play and each me from time to time and i’d sing and inspire him to sing as well which now that i think of is a sort of gender role comparison since most women have been told they can’t be composers because its a strength yet there he was teaching me and how many boy’s do we know who sing or admit they like to sing or just don’t sing because they think it’s for girls yet there he was singing along with me my cousin so society today wether they notice it or not is a two way male and female option because the two genders can learn from each other and hopefully see that men shouldn’t be afraid or embarrassed to dance ballet more or less than women shouldn’t stop trying something just because it’s said to be for boy’s we are who we are thats how i see it we can discriminate or help each other this our choice
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In what ways do you think art and music can transcend or erase gender issues?
In reply to question 3: If every popular artist of all genres known to man and all formally known artists all collaborate to create one piece of art or music, It will force all genders to come together when they see their role models/idols taking the first step.
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If all the popular artist of all genres known to men and all formally known artists all collaborate for a new music then all the artist will be conflicted with each of the parts of the artist’s ideas, opinions, and thoughts which can possibly create more gender issues.
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In my opinion, I feel music is music. It is not designed for a genders ears. It is made for generally any ears. Stereotypes are the only reason why people create the idea that certain sounds in music are made for men or woman if you ask me.
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Well there are some musics that are design for a specific gender like that song from Beyoncé girls rule the world
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I disagree, there are men who enjoy the song too ,so this makes music for mainly men as well depending how feminist they feel. They could maybe support beyonce in that music.
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I’m sorry i not “mainly” I meant for both genders.
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i agree with you completely on that @kevinolivia96 heres the thing though why have the stereotypes in the first place? i mean even back then what was the point? i mean there is no music that is specifically for a gender. so why act like there is?
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What stereotypes have you seen that would support your statement?
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Good question!
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thanks
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I agree for certain songs but what Jamesnificient said is true. There are some songs that is just for females or just for males and others is for everyone.
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I agree with you about music not being designed for genders but in general a lot of songs you can tell what gender they are sending the message to. Some songs are to disturbing and represent either gender in a different way.
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I agree, music is designed just as music and it is made just to be there. Now it is societies turn to think that music is something else otherwise.
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When I think about classical music, all genders which are male and female, come to play together beautiful music. I was not surprise about women in concerts because last night I went to Madison Square Garden for Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience featuring Ramin Djawadi.
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Yes, I agree with you because the majority of classical music is not created to expressed in a way for specific gender.
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I agree with James Baldwin’s assertion that we are living within structures and systems that control our lives in a very real way. We are structured to seeing things how we were trained to think. This goes back ages in history. Once we are trained to think a certain way it is hard to step back from that way of thought. For example in these two pieces shared in this blog we are told at the end of the blog that the first piece was by a man and the second by a woman. I personally thought it was the other way around. I myself being a female believe everyone is equal. But why do I still hear the second piece more masculine? Because it’s louder..stronger? This is something in our society that we are pretty much trained to think. Society controls how we are “supposed” to perceive the male and female figure.
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Wow I couldn’t agree more on that one “Society controls how we are “supposed” to perceive the male and female figure”. I know a lot more females know this but this is my first time seeing a female saying it.
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I completely agree with both of you. The mold that society is trying to force upon us is one of discrimination and inequality. As a male, I can see how society is controlling the “supposed” actions that we are “supposed” to do.
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” I’d like to say that times have changed, but I think this is still totally true.” ( Missy Mazzoli) Yes, females have come a long way and still continue to do so daily. But this perception we have about females being the gentler or peaceful gender will go on forever I believe. As James Baldwin says, ” history is literary present in all that we do.” Females were described with certain characteristics throughout history. Despite everything we have accomplished, females will still be thought of with the same characteristics.
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sadly yeah and hopefully that’ll change one day.
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Let’s be careful so that this topic doesn’t affect our mentality. Peaceful or gentler shouldn’t be attributed to women or men. It should attributed to all sex. So saying that the perception that women are the gentler and peaceful will go on forever is odd. After all we all want a peaceful world and gentle world where women are free to live their life to the fullest without getting objectified. I’d promote that women continue peaceful and gentle but then, men should also.
On the reverse, bring troublesome or rough shouldn’t be attributed to a particular sex either.
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What are the “same characteristics” you think for females?
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this question is mostly for the guy’s but any one can pith in. It’s about two questions the first is from the text and the second is just from me. So first question, what is your opinion on the text and how women are described to be? do you agree (if so why).and
the second question what is your opinion on the role of women? think about how women are police officer’s their in the army and so much more but yet today there’s still expectations toward women i mean “i don’t hit girls” for example which ok is for of a plus for us but I’m getting of the topic. so explain your view, your opinion and why looking forward to reading some of your responses.
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With the influence of others of different genders in music and art it can transcend issues that are faced around gender. Those who publish music or construct a form of art have a bigger say in what is and can become popular and therefore can influence newer generations. With works from women, men of varying race, and even those of the l.g.b.t community can bring about different thinking in all people. The kind of thinking can come from something as simple as talking about how a piece of art or music can make you feel and maybe finding a connection. With more of a connection with others we learn how they think and in turn can grow to have a better understanding of their differences in hope to bring a more unified society. Especially with a lot of music that can inspire such as for myself the song Unstoppable sung by Sia instills a sense of being able to achieve that big dream of becoming a president. Just like Barack Obama in setting the notion that anyone can do or be something amazing. So in short yes it is possible but it has taken years to get where we are now and it will take more time to prefect it.
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I’ve heard songs that sounded sweet and I’ve heard songs that sound angry, to me the instruments make a song sound that way. I’ve never thought about music sounding feminine or masculine. In the song samples, example 2 sounded more masculine only because the notes playing on the piano were deeper, but it didn’t make me think that a Mann was playing. If you believe music has a gender or is masculine or feminine please tell me how and why that is.
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I don’t think a music can be described as masculine or feminine, yeah the second piece is more upbeat than first, but you can’t really determine whether it’s man or women, until hear a voice, in this case it just does’t happen.
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I agree with you. I didn’t thought of music as being feminine or masculine and not even the two piece in this thread.
But then, a greater chunk of the society view it that way! Think of Rihanna, she gets many fans and ovation not just because she makes great music but because she tries her best to look so sexy and beautiful to impress others and that’s why her music is known. So how do we change that? How do we breakdown this understanding and give everyone equal opportunity?
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I never thought of music being feminine or masculine either… until I hear the lyrics but as far as instruments go there should be no such thing as feminine or masculine music. What I want to know is do you also think the lyrics of a song can make music feminine or masculine or do you still think there is no such thing as feminine and masculine music?
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When you say feminine do you mean like Beyonce “Run the World” or do you mean something else?
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My question to everyone is how would you feel hearing a song that shames your gender. Do you agree or disagree with the artist’s message?
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when we listen to music, is using our ears to listen, not eyes, why people still need care about the gender? At that time of society, if people were concerned about female performance musical instruments was unsightly, they can let the performers of hiding behind the curtains when performing .
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Don’t you think it’s important to know a person’s gender to be influenced by them? especially it’s a female who’s looking to be a musician or any other field that’s dominated males, I think everyone wants to look up to someone.
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I don’t think knowing a persons gender is important enough to be influenced by them. It’s hard to believe that people listen to singers just because they are a man or a woman. It’s about the message that they are conveying through their music. That’s what makes people look up to them.
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Mmmhm, I think it is important to have representation. I personally believe that we do need people that represent us in order to be role models and inspire minorities who have not been represented or even misrepresented.
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I don’t agree with people shaming their opposite genders. Music is a something to be enjoyed and to vibe with it.
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I agree with you 100%, some of my favorite artists are women who truly inspire me and individuals I look up to therefore I could not agree with you more. You should want to know the person’s gender in order to be influenced.
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I believe that both female and male performances are great and we should discriminate any genders.
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I also want to ask the question about In “What musical sounds seem “masculine” or “feminine” to us? “because sometime we listen to music, as normally, we won’t to check who is the author, except you really love that type of music.
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Thats actually a good thing, because it shows that we arent biased and we appreciate artist no matter who they are.
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How are your experiences with music different than those of someone of a different gender?
Women in music can have a large impact on the mood of a song. If a woman with soprano voice sings to a sad/minor melody it can drastically change the atmosphere based on the singing style and the words being sung. The weight of her higher pitched voice can also create a very dramatic tone to a song. However on the other end of the gender pool, the situation is almost the exactly the same. If a man were to sing to the same song with his tenor voice, it would create a different feeling entirely. Even if he copies her singing style, the effect of a lower masculine voice alone, is enough to change the attitude of the song. It’s very interesting to hear variations of songs covered by different people of all ages and sexes. Do you guys agree? or should there be songs that can only be sung by one sex?
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This question you have given us “How have you seen gender affect people’s behavior, judgment, or opinions?” is asked and happens daily. Women and men in any workplace are seen differently. For example, I work at Key Food ( a supermarket) and my managers tend to give the guys more hands on work such as stocking shelves, helping people to theirs cars with their groceries, and lifting heavy objects. I never see them ask any of the girls that I work with do any of the things that I have listed. One of the reasons as to why i think this happens is because just simply, they’re girls and my managers (who are all men) don’t believe they should be doing heavy work. They just want them to stand behind their register and look pretty. I started to notice this ever since my girlfriend (who i work with) pointed it out to me. It is unfair but that’s the world we live in and it’s up to everyone to show our leaders that women can do the work that men can do.
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It’s weird how traditionally in school we were never taught about women in classical music (or at least I’ve never heard of women in classical music or remember learning about them). It’s always about icons like Mozart and Beethoven. Before this class I honestly never knew there were female classical musicians.
In regards to the behavior/opinions of men on women I’ve noticed that they’re neglected and written off as “They don’t know what they’re doing/saying” solely because they’re women, (which can be why Women in classical music wasn’t an important topic in grade school) it can be because throughout history men have been a dominating force and any strong female is seen as a threat and something that scares them because of how power structures have been set up by society.
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Yes! I agree with you about ” men have been a dominating force and any strong female is seen as a threat and something that scares them because of how power structures have been set up by society.” It’s not only happened to women, it happens to everyone, if someone threatens their position, they will be afraid, they will suppress their opponents.
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In terms of which sounds more masculine or feminine, is hard to say, but I think that the second piece is more lovely than than the first. It’s a faster pace. Well for the younger generations, they follow what they listened to on the radio or music videos, even if they’re disrespecting women, how they dress with jeans down or how they speak to other individuals. For the older generations I can see, they’re more respective, and choose they’re music more wisely, even if the type of genre is not popular in the mainstream radio. Gender issues might differ when it comes to listening hip-hop, because I might say well “it’s only lyrics in a song” while a female might it’s disrespectful to women around the world, which it’s true. The males to think that one day might have daughters, in which we will not set good examples if we keep listening to music degrading women.
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In response to the fourth question, it is pretty much very hard in all sincerity to close up the gap between sexism and give everyone equal opportunity.
I’m from a family of nine, have four sisters who are all older than me. When I was younger, I’d remember my older sister spank me when I misbehave and our neighbor would say, “don’t worry, just few more years and you’ll be asking him for money and he will be the head…” At first I didn’t understand that consistent statement until when one of my sisters graduated from college and couldn’t get a job because of her gender. He studied mechanical engineering. So men should be hired first even when she proved beyond doubt in numerous interviews that she’s capable… To my utmost surprise, my sisters began to succumb to that ugly statement that our neighbor was making. All these memories stayed with me. It turned me into a motivational speaker to my sisters overtime and other women. When they ask me for something or favor, I sometimes refuse, asking them to do it themselves.
This is a very serious issue in our society. The reason why I said it’s difficult is because, such notion and belief has been deeply embroidered into our cultures, mentality, blood and society at large for a very long time that appears to be true!
I’ve been severally in a situation where I have to convince a female counterpart of her worth, capability and potentials- not only my sisters. I’ve forfeited a job so that a female counterpart can have it and proof that she’s worth something. This is so serious that some women see it that way and even support some men in carrying out this stereotypical and sexism arts.
I think one greater way to tackles this is to create a distinct subject/course for this problem of sexism in the school academic curriculum right from the very kindergarten to high school. It is not okay to go about asking women to stand up for themselves because at the end, it also creates a psychological scar both in men and women. And not only that, it hasn’t worked so wonderful in the past.
Tackling this from the root through education, will unthread permanently the damages embroidered into our culture and life. This is so because since women are the source of biological life on earth, the little ones will grow up with the new change in heart and mentality, and impact it into their procreation regardless of their sex thereby changing this completely.
Thanks.
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I believe that men in our society mostly would listen to male artist, but theirs a 25% chance that some of that music they listen to has female artist in there playlist. It’s hard to imagine a guy listening to only female artist because I personally never experienced a person who does, so that might be why I would say that men and women are equal to what they listen too. This means 50% male artist & 50% female.
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It is evident that men are seen as superior to women in the past and still today. It’s ok for a man to party and drink but women are seen as characterless if they engage in these acts. When men rape women the question arises, what was she wearing or doing? A mans actions are always justified by something a woman did to provoke him. Also, when a man sings a song about sex it is generally accepted but if a woman does that it is viewed as vulgar. How men and women are perceived has a lot to do with society and what it believes a woman’s place is, usually submissive to men. Women that make music are strong and independent because they go against societal norms. In my opinion, a great piece of music is just that! Whether it was made by a woman or a man we should learn to appreciate art for what it really is; a beautiful way to express ourselves!
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Does it matter who made the art/music or is what you feel when listening to a piece more important????
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Women are active in almost all aspects of classical music, such as instrumental performance, vocal performance, However, proportionately to men, their representation and recognition especially at higher level falls a long way below their numbers. Although women have not had roles in classical music as much as men’s until recently but it has been much more common for women to study musical instruments. In the 1800s, upper-class women often were expected to learn an instrument, often the harp, piano, guitar, or violin, or to learn to sing.
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in my opinion i believe sexism does existed the classical music era but however it is also a fact that men were much more serious about musics than women’s because they were into instruments and writing musics. male were much more interested in music than females i would say this is one of the reason why we had few female composers.
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I dont think it was because men were more into music then women, I think it was the fact that the era wouldnt allow women to pursue such roles and hobbies. Because their roles were to be the caretaker of the household, “be a lady”, and just other stuff that forbad them to do what they wanted to do in life.
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I agree with this. While reading the original post I was planning on commenting the same thing. Women were “confined” to the house to raise the children and so on, wasn’t fair.
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why male musicians were hired more female musicians during the 90s ? is it because of the gender or the talent?
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I have seen gender affect people’s behavior, judgement and opinions. Not to say that gender matters but I have seen women who are way more emotional than men. For example I’ve noticed that when women see small things such a dogs, babies or items they tend to say “aww”, while men tend to say “it’s cool” or “it’s nice”. Additionally I’ve seen women say much more emotional or caring things when people are in distress. Say a boy falls off his bike, a women might say “OMG are you ok, don’t cry”, while a man might say “stop crying, you be aight”. Even in relationships I’ve seen women show that they care way more than the male and the whole time the male cares just as much but doesn’t show it. As far as music and gender goes I’ve noticed women relate to and like songs such as “Can’t Raise a Man” by K.Michelle while men may like songs by Gucci Mane or G Herbo. Not to say woman don’t like rap and men don’t like love songs because I know men and women that like Beyoncé, K.Michelle, Drake or Herbo and they all make different kinds of music; but I am saying I noticed woman tend to listen to more love songs or songs about women because they can relate to it and men like to listen more to drill/ rap music even if they can’t relate to it.
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While knowing this, why do you believe that Men, who would rather appear tough, are closer to their mother and Women, who show more emotion, are closer to their father?
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I think the terms “Daddy’s little girl” and “Mamas boy” hold a lot of weight. Often times fathers will try to make their son tough, get them interested in sports and get them to work while mothers tend to baby and spoil their sons. With daughters, fathers will spoil them because that’s their little girl and the mothers will collide with the daughter because of that female attitude. At least that’s what’s portrayed in the media, I’m sure this isn’t true in most households.
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Being a feminist myself, it doesnt surprise me that classical music back then had very rare female musicians. Even still today people still based their behaviors, judgments and opinions based on gender. Like the phrase “your a girl”, what the heck does that mean, I know I am a girl so how does that affect my opinions and judgement on a certain topic. It probably has to do with the fact that people and men think we are to emotion in our thoughts and dont have logic, with in fact is a half truth. I feel women put both logic and emotion into thought with creates a better judgement. Also that we are raised into these roles and thoughts through our parents and the media surrounding us when we are little. For example toys, they create a girl toy where its a kitchen set, not to say boys cant play with it, but it gives the role to girls at a young age that they are the cooks and meal prepares of the house. Where for boys they create fake tool toys and trucks, to show they are the main role of the family and in charge. To me if artist all come has one, it can define gender roles and sort of break the mold altogether.
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I agree with your comment that “women put both logic and emotion into thoughts which creates a better judgment”. Having this type mentality towards women is what will continue to help the on going battle for equality in women’s rights and in society. I also agree with the fact that the media play’s a role in this, but it can also promote gender equality as well through social media, TV commercials, Radio talk shows etc..
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I’ve seen gender affect people’s behavior because most men will choose not to do something that makes them appear “soft.” By this, I mean that most men refuse to show emotion or when one would see another man cry, then their view of that man would be that their masculinity had diminished.
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”Gender roles are a social construct. When we attempt to assign strengths and weaknesses to either gender, we literally cut our potential as a human race in half. Feminism seeks to prevent that and instead, broaden our perspective for everyone’s benefit”
I firmly believe that gender roles limit our total expression as human beings. We have been conditioned to behave the way we do. I’ve seen the difference of treatment between my brother and I. We were both born and raised in Colombia , a very traditional and conservative country. Since he was younger, He’s been allowed to go out more, to have girlfriends , to be more outspoken than me, and basically get away with more things. In contrast, Every time i would be passionate about something, i was being too emotional so in a way i had to earn respect. Of course my brother also had disadvantages, i know my brother was also oppressed of showing his emotions and having the pressure of being a ”Man”. So , for both of us, it felt such a relief to leave those roles and labels define us and to create our own character as human beings.
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Can you love Rap music and hate misogyny or homophobia?
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I believe that women are very much discriminated through music. They are not only being discriminated through hip pop music but also through a lot of spanish songs and caribbean music, etc. What is mostly said in songs is that all women are the same in a bad way and also how weak they really are. Women react upon all of the negative things said about all women and so they adapt to what is being said, which I think is really bad.
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The more I get into this kind of discussions (let’s say, controversial ones) about how society shapes us, our minds, our behaviors and beliefs, the more I become sure that there is no such thing as freedom in this world. Everything we do, decide, consume and even dream of has been thought to us by the system we live in, I mean, that every single tool given to us to understand and survive our environment was already made by others. Language, science, technology, social rules, gender roles, our goals (don’t tell me that you came with the idea of having a big house, kids, tons of money and that sexy car out of the vacuum), every single trait of that thing we call a personality or character has been transmitted to us by our surrounding culture. Even when you think that you are so original or such a “rebel” in this world it is only because the world itself made you like that, made you fulfill that role in this stage we call life in which we are all mere actors (citing the great Shakespeare). I know it may sound pessimistic but the power of prejudice goes far beyond the music realm or mere sexism, it is embedded in our brains as the motor of judgement on every aspect of our lives. Some might call this culture, or intellectual heritage but the truth is that Eurocentric communities such as ours tend to perpetuate this biased concepts of gender-race supremacy at every level (from education to all its expressive content) in order to keep functioning, to keep the same kind of people (in the case of music and maybe also politics, entertainment, corporate world and pretty much everything, white males) doing the same kind of activities they have been doing for the last five hundred years without giving much chance to anyone new to try. From some point of view it makes sense to try to keep the same people doing the same things if it’s working, right? but how do we know it is working if there is no chance to compare or contrast? if there is no other way to interpret the world that surround us?. As the reading of this discussion demonstrates, minorities in general (not just women) have given and have a lot more to give to society at every level; and even if in the last 40-50 years opportunities for such groups have slightly increased it is our responsibility as future professional, or even better, as human beings to erase those boundaries, to thrive for equality and to give equality as well (not just to claim for something we don’t even give back). It is really in our hands: the things we produce and the things we consume have a major role in how society shapes, so in this very case, instead of demanding less clothed female artists or tough-guy rappers we should ask for and develop better content, a more positive message for our future generations, and more opportunities for everyone.
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Masculine music to me seems to be when an artist sings/plays with raw feelings and demonstrate a sort of oomph. But with feminine music, the type of music that comes to mind is music with feeling or with personal stories. But music that has the best of both world is the most meaningful in my opinion.
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What kind of artist do you all view as “masculine” and “femine”?
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Gender equality and equal woman’s rights have been an on going battle for many years. In recent news we just celebrated “International Women’s Day’ on March 8th. This day was established to not only celebrate and acknowledge the struggles of those who fought for women’s equal rights, but also to acknowledge that the problem is on going. Dr. J gives us an example of this through the numbers provided in this discussion in regards to gender bias in performances on classical music concerts. “In 2014-15 of all the works played by the top orchestras, only 14.8 percent were composed by women.” These number’s are concerning but not so much surprising, and my question is how can we improve this number and get more women interested and promoted in this field of music? In my opinion musical sounds do not possess characteristics that would distinguish it as “masculine” or “feminine”. If we categorize a song or genre as “feminine” then it would be stereotypical to assume that it would appeal to women and not to men, and vise versa.
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Can anyone think of an artist who has been labeled as an equal right activist through his/her music genre and lyrics?
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I listen to more female artist than male artist because I can relate more to them. Female artist sing more about relationships, fashion, beauty standards, etc. Some guys won’t be able to understand how women feel with relationships and beauty standards. Sometime women are unable to comprehend subjects men talk about such as masculinity, cars, women, sports, etc.
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Yes! We can relate to the female artist because we have the same position or same thoughts in the relationship. Therefore, we have connected to them. So we need female artist to use the female way to show the beauty of female.
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What about a singer that is part of the LGBT community like, Frank Ocean, Sam Smith and David Bowie?
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*singers
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Do you think they’re treated better than regular artistes since they are in the LGBT group?
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Now and days gender seems to play a huge role in people’s views, judgements, and opinions. In today’s society mostly expressed in music women are down played and signified as a “sexual object,” or in most songs they get called vulgar words and disrespectful phrases. It’s upset how people accept this when in other cases if someone decides to open up about there sexuality through music, express their religion, or even there views on politics it isn’t respected. Or many have no interest in these types of music because it’s “boring.” Rap music seems to be one of those stereotypical genres that influence “a youth empowerment organization, teens are drawn to the fantasies of wealth, glamour, and sex appeal in rap videos” as said by the media and various teen articles about social development.
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Should women be treated unfairly by the way she dress? If a women wears a mini and a short see though top is asking to for “wrong attention”?
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Well, here’s my opinion on the matter. People dress the way they want to be treated, its like clothes shows authority in a sense. If people want to be treated with respect they need to start by respecting themselves first. The same thing goes for men, they get treated with vulgarity as well by the way they dress and so do women. I am not saying it’s the right thing to do however, its all about respecting oneself.
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For me, the masculine is like rap, hip hop song, and the feminine song is the lyric song. And as the article say “they are not fixed, they can be changed, and they are something that we collectively invent based on what we believe perceive, or need at the time.”. They can change. Nowadays, we have Elliott Yamin, Jason Mraz who is good at sing lyric song, Nicki Minaj and Estelle who sing rap song. Therefore, the symbol of masculine and feminine is not forever. Then can change
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To answer to the question, “Can music sound “feminine” ? ,The first piece from the music player sounded feminine only because the giant piano was playing in a quite tone. I fell like this piece would be played as a ballet recited because the notes are quite peace and dance-able. Plus the notes van make a dancer follow the rhythm to the melody. Although the melody is more smooth then the second piece (music player #2) The second piece is an alto, meaning the notes are going high, being loud then the first player. I also believe this music player # 2 is being played by a Male since he seems rushed and wanting to play in perfection. Plus the tone of the music seems more of anger rather then glory.
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Adding on to find out that the first piece was written by a male artist and the second was played by a female made me realized we can’t judge a book by it’s covers (can’t judge an artist by its artwork, haha)
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The peace I believe that is the most happiness is peace number one. It is sweet soft and delicate, innocent. What women was portrayed sweet, soft and innocent.
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If you listen to the second part of the music player- you will notices the melody and tempo of the music. In that case the second music player is making roaring sounds unlike the first piece of the first music player.
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In some places, it’s a point of view likes “sex discrimination”, some family really think they need to have a son to carry on the family name. I really don’t like this kind of thoughts.
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That’s really crazy, but is it due to the music industry? or is it from old traditions like some countries in Asia for example China. The son of the family is required to carry on the families name but not the daughter.
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I believe that music with lyrics can be masculine or feminine but instrumental music i dont believe is gender oriented.
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I dont believe women should be treated differently in the music world because if they create music well they should be treated like the greats.
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i listen to and equal ratio of female to masculine music because i listen to music i like not by gender.
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I totally agree
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Nowadays women in music is portrayed as less than males. Within pop culture there has been a trend for a few years or almost a decade of women being called by slang names, most of it profanity causing gender issues to transcend because when the younger age group listens to this, they’re easily persuaded leading to a onward trend of degrading gestures. It has gotten so bad, many women like to be influenced by what is said through the pop culture and music. Continuing this trend could even set women back to when they were actually looked at less than men and even further such a inferiority in a plethora of areas.
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What are the slang names that women are being called?
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When listening to music around friends some people might thinks others or weird because of music you listen to based off your gender. In today society of your a boy your should listen to a lot of hardcore music or rap and if your girl you can rap and sweet songs. I’ve seen it done in person when a boy listens to (swa) a singing group from the 90s and get joked on because he’s singing along. To me it doesn’t matter what type of music anyone listens to because music is music is basically listening and appreciating someone else’s art.
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So who was the first women to playing an instrument and in what century?
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I belive the first piece was the more feminine piece because the tone was very soft and innocent as to what a women is described to be, which falls hand in hand. The second piece had a different type of tone to it, intense and loud making it more masculine so shooting for a different type of audiance which would be males. Although the words, the lyrics to a song can also have a big impact on that as well.
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Music with lyrics can be possibly hurt from people towards the gender issues however it is also depends on how people take it to their hearts and their feelings about the music. Since everyone has different thoughts about the type of music if we think it differently or try understand the artist of the music then there will not be a problem to have with.
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We have to broaden our hearts, minds, and thought to understand that we do not cause problems with the music that is made from someone who create with his or her heart
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Answering for question number 4…. my experience with music isn’t much different with a different gender. I typically listen to numerous songs that are sang my women and which I find more amusing then those by men because with men they are normally just rapping and taking out some anger on women and which I don’t enjoy that much.
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If a piece of art is made and represents a well crafted picture showing the power, dominance, and talent of the female gender. Females can be treated as an equal This can create an influence for the next generation to find it respectful to treat women as an equally in terms of music ability.
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