Music And Gender
Growing up, I knew that I wasn't like every other girl my age. I grew up playing with toy cars and playing as many sports as you think can of. I didn't like what every other traditional girl likes when they're younger. Traditionally, little girls are into dolls, barbies and getting dressed up. I hated dressing up more than anything and I still do to this day. My parents always tried to encourage me to be like every other girl my age but that didn't work.
I vaguely remember asking for a drum set for a couple years for Christmas because my older cousin, Jacob had one. I thought playing the drums would be the coolest thing especially since I was a girl. My parents quickly shot down my hope for getting a drum set every time I asked. I am not sure if it was because they weren't used to seeing girls play the drums or because they're just so loud. I'd say probably both. I still have hope that I would've been really good on the drums. Maybe one day, I'll buy myself a drum set and learn to play.
I realize now that you still to this day don't hardly ever see female drummers. Drumming is just a male-dominant hobby. Maybe there's a stigma behind female's playing the drums because of the aggression behind it or that women aren't "strong enough". This causes women to be drawn to other instruments that would be considered female-dominant such as the Piano, Violin, Flute and Clarinet.
When I was in middle school, I signed up to be in the band. First thing I remember was picking out two instruments that we found interesting and wanted to try out. I remember my two instruments were the Flute and the Saxophone. Honestly, I knew nothing about either instrument. After my audition type thing, I briefly recall talking to some of my middle school friends and telling them which instruments I chose. I told them, "I played the Saxophone and the Flute!" One of the guys shot back at me and said, "Mostly guys play the Saxophone." So that stuck in my mind way too long and led me to choose to play the flute all throughout middle school. Looking back, I don't regret choosing the Flute because I made some great friends and I enjoyed learning to play it.
I hope one day I see that more females break the gender barrier behind male-dominant instruments such as the drums. It would be so amazing to see more female drummers in the music industry today.
I totally agree with your blog mentioning the stereotypes about women playing drums. I have also heard about drums being very aggressive and not suitable for women. But today, we can see more women drummers who have a lot of passion to break the stigma.
ReplyDeleteI grew up the same way, not like a traditional girl. But yeah thinking about it, you really don't see many female drummers!
ReplyDeleteI have also heard a lot of male musicians tell women musicians that certain instruments were only meant for boys. This usually happens when they are young, but it still hurts the self esteem and the goals of the girls who wanted to play those "masculine" instruments.
ReplyDeleteIt's never too late to learn the drums or saxophone. Since you already play the flute and would not have to learn to read music, it would make it much easier. Do what makes you happy... I love to cut, rake, and bale hay. It makes me very happy to be on a tractor, working out in God's creation (This is classified as a man's job). Don't let other peoples opinions steal your "Joy".
ReplyDeleteIt's really cool that you're into stuff like cars and sports. Unfortunately drumming is a male dominated thing but perspectives are changing over time.
ReplyDeleteHayley
DeleteThe drums are definitely a very male-dominated instrument, and I'd love to see more girls playing them. Once, I was at a concert in a pretty small venue. Most of the audience were girls. The drummer in the band was a woman, and afterwards SO many attendees wanted to take a picture with her. I think, for many of us, it was the first time we'd ever seen a professional female drummer in person.
ReplyDeleteI grew up with two brothers so I know the feeling of not wanting to be the “typical girl.” I clearly remember arguing with my brothers about whose turn it was to play with the legos but that’s beyond the point. I feel that the reason why many females don’t approach those male-dominated instruments is that males themselves will make comments like the one you mentioned above. It’s not that females don’t want to play those instruments, society just brainwashes us and causes us to be hesitant. I’m glad that you don’t regret your decision though. Sometimes at the end of the day, it’s just about what will make us happy.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in about the fifth grade I was also a Tom boy especially because I was one of the 1/5 girls in my class room that year. But I hate that people think instruments has to be assigned to a specific gender.
ReplyDeleteI've never really thought about it, but you're totally right about how there are more male than female drummers. Hopefully, though, you'll finally have a chance to learn them! It would be totally cool, if that's what you're interested in.
ReplyDeleteYou're pretty on point with band gender norms here. I had a really interesting experience in band in high school because of them, though. We had a jazz band at my school, and of course most people in it were guys--saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and drums. They really needed a piano player, though, and that was me-one of the only kids in the band that was also a good pianist. So I ended up being the only girl in the jazz band, simply because I played a "girl" instrument. And it was really fun!
ReplyDeleteOh, and if you're going to paste your text in from another source (I bet you're pasting in from Word, since this is obviously your work), could you be sure and make the back ground color match the rest of the blog? This is rather hard for my old eyes to read....
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