Music and Gender

In my musical experiences, boys get to do all the cool stuff. They’re also able to play more types of instruments without getting any backlash. I remember going to a few guitar stores and I know they didn’t take me seriously because I’m a girl. I can’t stand that. I didn’t really see it as a problem in marching band. There were more brass players who were guys, but if you were a girl it didn’t really matter. Most girls were in the woodwind section or in color guard.
I really do think that guys have it easier with music a lot of the times, though. Most well-known bands are made up of guys. They can do things that would look terrible for female artists. I’m not saying that it’s all a bucket of sunshine for male artists; I just think that the world sometimes has a hard time breaking away from traditions in music. When I think about musicians breaking away from tradition I think of the female guitarist that played for Michael Jackson. I don’t know her name, but I remember her being the first girl I saw who played electric guitar on television. I thought she was epic. She blew my mind.
In terms of middle school…I don’t really remember what I listened to in middle school. I think it was a lot of Fallout Boy. Generally, I think more girls listened to whatever female artists were popular at the time and boys listened to...something else. Although I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the case a lot of the time. I think we listened to what caught our attention. At that period in life I think music was a way to find some kind of identity or how to figure how to act. Music definitely influenced behavior, and most kids at that age are trying to fit in. Maybe it would have been weird for a girl to listen to Metallica or something, I don’t really remember.
I do like to hear all different types of singing, and Converse is somewhat lacking in that area due to the fact that it’s pretty much made up of women. So I think I do experience music in a different way than if I went to a school with an equal amount of men and women. I do miss hearing the lower octaves in music. There is also a difference in the wind ensemble. We’d have more brass players at a mixed gender setting because a lot more guys play brass instruments. There is plenty of diversity in the music at Converse though, so I'm happy with that.
In general, I think that gender isn’t such a big deal as it used to be. There are tons of female artists that are pretty awesome at whatever they do and there are lots of guys that are too. I do find it a little strange though, how most young boys got picked on for being in chorus and then once they get past a certain age it’s considered a great talent. Life is funny like that.