Music and Gender

In band it always seems like boys play brass and girls play woodwinds. This is true except for the saxophone. It seems that it's okay for boys to dominate the saxophone for some reason. However, I did not see this in the bands that I have been in. Our top trombone players were two girls. The entire saxophone section in the wind ensemble were girls my senior year. We had many male flute and clarinet players. Girls led every section at one point while I was in high school including percussion and even tubas. We had a pretty good balance. However, clinics are a whole other story.

Going to an audition for a clinic of any sort I think everyone scopes out the competition. I remember listening to other saxophones and checking them off my list as already beat as I walked around the practice area. I remember seeing female saxophone players and thinking automatically that I would be better than them. It was not out of cockyness but,to me, they just didn't look like they could play. This is bizarre because I play saxophone. To be fair I don't even think I look like a threat either. So, there is discrimination between myself and my own gender. Logically, I know women are just as capable but I have only seen women saxophonist maybe two times of all the clinics I've been to. If anything I was always beat by a guy and so I didn't take other female saxophone players too seriously.

When it comes to guys. If there was ever a male flute or clarinet player everyone thought they must be good if they are playing an instrument typically for girls. I thought the same thing. This has always held true throughout middle and high school. If there was a male flute he was leading the section and same for a male clarinet. I don't remember any of our male woodwind players not making region or all state band.

In my own band it was never a big deal to lead the section being a female but at clinics I felt pretty powerful sitting at the front of the section, and for no reason because in reality males and females have equal shot of making the clinics. The guys I beat were always very bitter and had a million excuses as to how I could have possibly been sitting in front of them. I think male saxophonist don't expect too much out of the females either. I think it is interesting how people view gender and music. Even I catch myself dicriminating against my own gender who play my own instrument. It is kind of crazy really.