Gender wars : Musician style

Music and gender… I could write a book on that subject. But alas, I cannot, so just a few paragraphs will have to do.

Being a woman, I know how hard it is to be successful in the music world, especially being a pianist. Male pianists are more common than female pianists. Piano is a very male dominated instrument in my observation. I have participated in many competitions where I was one of only 3-5 women. I’m not sure why there are so few, but I have some ideas. We are women right? We want to have social lives and lots of friends and popularity. But let’s face it, how many teenage girl would spend their afternoons or evenings playing Bach and Mozart till their arms hurt rather than hang out with their friends? Well me, for one, but I’m talking about the majority of teenagers here. Another reason I think is because the music gets harder and practicing takes longer. Practicing can become frustrating, dull, boring and you would rather do something else with your time. In my experience, the only women pianists that I have seen that are older than maybe 13-14 are either prodigies or musical geniuses.

 I have seen some gender bias as well in the piano world. There are not very many female concert pianists. Whenever I see or hear a female concert pianist, I know she has worked extremely hard to get to where she is because I know how competitive it is. For example: at a college scholarship audition, lets say there are male and female pianists, both equally talented, both play the exact same piece equally well. 99.5% of the time, the judges will pick the male. Do I think it is fair? Not particularly. As a result, I think that women musicians sometimes are not given the same opportunities as male musicians, just because they are female. Gender shouldn’t matter when it comes to picking a talented musician. Remember that for centuries, women were not allowed to be professional musicians. They were supposed to stay at home and clean and care for their families. Women musicians had to fight to get the approval and recognition they deserved. I know that being both a woman AND a pianist is a hard task to pursue and I often wonder if I have the talent and mental drive to accomplish my goal. Do I have what it takes to make it? Only time will tell.

Aside from being a pianist, I am also a singer. I have experienced some gender bias at voice competitions as well. There are so many sopranos in the world; some are mediocre, and there are some with lots of potential. Because of this, male singers are needed to help balance out the number of sopranos. There is a lot of competition in the opera world as well. I know that genuinely talented young male singers are not that incredibly common. I have been to competitions where I have heard an average tenor or baritone perform in the honors recital, when there were many really good female singers competing as well. I knew immediately that they picked that tenor or baritone BECAUSE he was a tenor or baritone. The talent or training (or lack of) didn’t matter. It was a male singer. Mind you, I LOVE tenors and baritones, but I think that a panel of judges should not have an unfair preferance to males just because of their gender and not their voices.

I do experience music differently at Converse than I would at any other music school. I’m glad that I have no men to compete with in the piano studio. (Even though there are FANTASTIC women pianists and instrumentalists here.) If I went to a co-ed school, I’m positive I would not be able to handle the competition. Think what you want, but I am personally greatful there are no men in the undergrad music department.