Music and Gender

As a flute player growing up in the 21st century, gender didn't pose a problem for me. Even in my middle school when there was only one male flutist everyone was super supportive of him and even excited that there were more than just females on the flute. And all my instructors since high school have been male flutist. Although I don't know anyone personally who struggled with gender in the music business, I do know it has always been a challenge for many others.

In many parts of the world women just aren't allowed to play instruments. The one example that comes to mind is the didgeridoo. I had the privilege of going to Australia with a group of kids and spending a day or so with an Aboriginal family. They let us try to through spear and paint but they only let the boys in the group play the didgeridoo.

All of us, including the boys who were close friends to many of the girls, was a little bit offended at first but we came to understand that that's just what they did. Later in our trip, a group of girls, including myself, came across a shop where they made and sold. Out of respect for the Aboriginal culture, we had learned about a few days prior, only one of us bought a didgeridoo and it was a gift for her dad's birthday which she had to miss. It was a life lesson I will never forget.

Another example of how gender can affect music if percussion. While I see women play percussion instruments all the time now it was a rarity even back in the early 1970s and 1980s. When Selena Quintanilla-Pérez was first getting her band started her father put her brother on guitar and had her sister play the drums. I remember that being an awkward time for the sister having to play a "man's instrument."  And then having Selena being a female just gave the family even more obstacles to avoid. But, they did it and they are still greatly remembered to this day.

Women aren't the only ones who have struggled with gender in music. Back in old Japan in the days of no electricity and bad medicine, there was a way for blind women to make a living. These women were called Goze and they would travel around and play the shamisen for a living.

Well, there is a legend of a young man named Nitaroh who later changed it to Nitaboh born in like 1857. Nitaboh went blind at a young age from an illness. His dream was to play the shakuhachi. But after he went blind, he met a goze and with hesitation taught Nitaboh how to play the shamisen. The goze needed convincing because shamisen was mostly something played by either the goze or temple monks. It wasn't for a boy off the street. Nitaboh later came to be a great shamisen player and would even be famed for creating the Tsugaru shamisen.

Both men and women suffer from gender discrimination in music. But those who overcome that struggle are some of the best musicians in the world.