Watch this before reading::
Once you've stopped scolding my father for whispering and your aurally skilled ears have stopped bleeding (even more so if you know what the piece is supposed to sound like) let me ask you something. Notice anything weird? Yes. The flutist to the far right is male.
When someone's asked to name an instrument that "women" play, if the immediate response isn't flute- be surprised. In society, it's possibly the most stereotyped instrument towards women, yet some of the most recognizable flutists are male: James Galway, Quantz, Taffanel, Gaubert, and of course the Dr. Chris Vaneman.
My high school never really had any serious issues with gender roles in the music program. We had males playing "feminine" instruments: clarinet, flute, piccolo, horn, oboe... We also had a guy or two in our color guard. We also had a steady number of girls playing "masculine" instruments: double bass, trombone, trumpet, and one of our best percussionists was female. (She's also looking at our school as an option for next year by the way.) Now, the two guys we had in our color guard were gay and the two male flutists were straight, and received a few jabs now and then about their sexuality, but there was never any animosity in their direction. Our school's production of "Little Shop of Horrors" even disregarded gender roles as all three reporters (male and female) were played by a lone (bearded) gentleman... in a dress. Our school did a pretty successful job of not letting instruments or roles be determined by the nature of the instrument or role itself.
I will admit that a large portion of music program drop-outs and instrument changes before high school occurred due to gender stereotypes. Some guys switched from flute or horn to trumpet and trombone, while others just got tired of being labeled gay and quit. Same for girls playing percussion, trombone, etc. getting tired of being labeled... well... slurs for lesbian. But once we reached high school, we were all on a level playing field.
Despite this, I always took a minute or two to adjust when I went to things like USC Band Clinic, Region and All-State band. There was always very heavy gender diversity among the instruments and it always made me do a double-take. I'm used to seeing Markeisha play the marimba, but now there's Markeisha on marimba and that other chick on snare? It also took me a bit to adjust to there being more than one girl in my (then) boyfriend's trombone section. But I think the gender diversity helped make the experiences I had at these clinics far more enjoyable...
In summary it can be said that in my experience no one has been musically or creatively limited directly because of their gender. It's always been middle school bullies, or simply hindering themselves.
Oh, and here's a musical band-aid for your ears...
Galway playing Clair de Lune as it's supposed to sound on the flute::
2 cah.mints:
It's interesting that you mentioned the fact that flutists in middle/high school are typically female, yet there are quite a few professional male flutists. This is the same case with clarinetists... The majority of clarinetists in the top orchestra are primarily male (with the exception of a few females scattered here and there...). I always wondered.. where did all those females playing the clarinet go??
Well, actually, Clair de Lune is supposed to be played on the piano... Of course, we're doing an orchestral arrangement with SPO later on the spring--should be nice.
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