Music and Gender
I love many kinds of genres of music and some of which usually are expected to be listen by men and not women. In todays society it is more acceptable, however, the music industry still has a ways to go for gender equality in music. I love different types of Rock music, Metal, and some earlier Rap which are generally male dominated genres. Women are usually attracted to more sentimental and passionate music, which I do enjoy at times, and men are more attracted to louder and intense music, which I also enjoy. Another fact, women tend to like popular music more than men. I myself enjoy older music which isn't as common for females. It is known that the type of personality and behavior one has affects their music preference. Women are known to be more emotional and soft and men are known to be more outgoing and tough. I have some mixtures of both. Therefore, I enjoy many genres that are listened to by men and women. I believe music genres are to describe music and not people. Music preference reveals our inner feelings and thoughts. Nobody should be afraid to be judged on what type of music they enjoy.
Now moving on with the instruments I play. Piano, guitar, and viola doesn't typically have a dominate gender, however, the accordion does. Women don't normally play the accordion, in fact, I haven't seen many or at all women accordionist, they are mainly all men. Anyhow of course, instruments don't have a gender themselves, but we designate gender stereotypes to a lot of them. Furthermore, women composers were not nearly common as male composers in fact there was only 1.8% of women composers of the overall season. Before todays society, women were considered as amateurs rather than professionals. They did have many difficulties becoming a professional musician which included gender stereotypes for certain instruments such as the percussion, brass, and large stringed instruments. Having that, mainly men made up most of the orchestras and other ensembles. Most times there were left with piano and harpsichord. Even though women had composed larger works it didn't surpass the men's compositions. It didn't come until the 1900's that the percentage of women training as professional musicians escalated dramatically. And some cool female composers I have come across are Hildegard Von Bingen as you might know from the Middle Ages and Clara Schumann, a pianist and the wife of Robert Schumann. And here is a pretty piece I like by Clara Schumann enjoy!
I did not even realize that the accordion is an instrument that is usually played by men. My grandmother grew up playing the accordion and she was born in the 30’s. I suppose this is something that was not common during that time. I will have to ask her about that!
ReplyDeleteHey Julia! I loved your approach on this, I was expecting most people to stick with the idea that certain instruments have male and female connotations. In my own experience I have noticed that males and females tend to like different types of music. Me and my fiancé for example listen to two totally different genres; he prefers rap and I prefer country. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Julia! Thank you for your insight, especially on the orchestra being more male dominant. As a violinist growing up, I did notice that most of the orchestras (even youth), were more male predominant. That's a good point you made about which music each gender gravitates towards to because I'm one of those that are in the middle: I like pop music and I like hip hop with a splash of R&B, haha!
ReplyDeleteHi Julia! Thank you so much for sharing your perspective. I agree that there are obvious differences in the genres that men enjoy vs. what women enjoy, although I can't claim to understand why. I don't agree that men are tougher; in my experience, they are quite fragile and women can literally give birth! It is very interesting that, historically and currently, the music industry has been so male dominant. Especially classical music! Although there were/are so many incredible female composers, we hear far more about male composers. The music industry has come along way in gender equality, but has far more growth to achieve.
ReplyDeleteHi Julia. I enjoyed your perspective, and I can totally relate. I myself am very soft, soft-spoken, but at the same time I’m outgoing in certain aspects of my life. I do find that rap is a very male dominated industry, thus their audiences being predominantly male. I find that in my personal relationships, a lot of them listen to rap while I listen to pop, R&B, indie, etc. Thank you Julia.
ReplyDeleteHi Julia. I enjoyed your perspective, and I can totally relate. I myself am very soft, soft-spoken, but at the same time I’m outgoing in certain aspects of my life. I do find that rap is a very male dominated industry, thus their audiences being predominantly male. I find that in my personal relationships, a lot of them listen to rap while I listen to pop, R&B, indie, etc. Thank you Julia.
ReplyDeleteJulia I totally agree. I mentioned some of the exact same things in my blog. There is such a stigma against women and men who are musicians and artist in general.
ReplyDelete