Music and Gender

Throughout my experience as a musician, I have definitely noticed a change in what is culturally acceptable for men and women to do musically. Even in elementary school, boys and girls would sit separately, partially to not be plagued with "cooties," and partially because the boys didn't feel they could sing with the girls. The boys had to show off and "use their manly voices," even though we were all little sopranos at that point.

In middle school, I could see even more of this. The boys would be more okay with talking to girls. The biggest problem with boys in middle school was that their voices were changing. While singing, this would embarass the guys in the choir. They would actually act shy towards us or make jokes about girls to seem less nervous in front of us. In middle school, I definitely felt that the boys listened to completely different music than the girls. We would be concerned with what the latest song our favorite boy band came out with. The boys would be concerned with the latest rapper or rock band. (They had to be the coolest, right?)

Throughout high school, I couldn't really tell a big difference in what everyone listened to. We all listened to America's Top 40 and went about our day. I will say that in choir, the dynamic was a little different. The sections definitely acted differently, but I can't exactly pinpoint why. I do believe that guys and girls got along better in these high school years and it helped create some special bonds that I only think I could've made, due to being in a choir like the one I was in during high school.

I do think that I experience music differently here at Converse, mainly due to the fact that there are no men. I feel like I hear way more music that is specifically written for women. I also believe we probably perform more music by female composers than other schools may. I actually absolutely love that fact, though. Some of the female composers are among my favorite. It's also important to know how these composers came about and some of their stories are so interesting, especially those that wrote when women weren't "supposed" to write. I also believe I have a better ear when it comes to hearing certain music. This is largely due to the fact that I constantly hear higher tones on a regular basis. Sopranos, flutes, clarinets, etc. We have such a variety here!