As a culture, and even as children, we have very particular notions of who should play what instruments, with children as young as three associating certain instruments with gender (Marshall and Shibazaki, 2012). Society, friends, and teachers, play a significant role in our music selection process. Musical instruments are also “gendered.” Our choices as to which instrument to play, in other words, are not entirely our own. On stage, male musicians may co-opt female gendered attributes as part of a performance, such as Heavy or Hair Metal band members wearing long hair and make-up. In performance, there is a great deal of gender bending or borrowing that can occur. Gender lines are not as straightforward as one might believe, however. For example, genres like heavy metal and rock are gendered not only in the fact that male musicians dominate them, but also in that they are perceived as male-oriented in subject matter, with appeal to a male audience.
Societies attribute masculinity to different genres of music, instruments, and what musicians should look like when performing. Is music gendered? Music is highly gendered in ways that we might not even think about. Boys and girls may express different musical interests and abilities with girls showing self-confidence in literacy and music and boys showing confidence in sports and math, but teachers also discuss boys and girls musicality differently (Green, 1993). Grades are affected in addition to access to certain opportunities and promotion to leader- ship roles. For example, individual teachers may prefer one gender to another, but the entire educational system in general, favors girls’ learning styles and behaviors over that of boys. Many educators have studied the role of gender and how it affects teachers and teaching.
We contextualize, filter, draw conclusions, and make inferences, in part, based on someone’s physical attributes. Perceptions of the individual based on their gender and race influence all of us in all areas. We incorporate gender into all aspects of our daily lives from a very early age onward, and can be socially uncomfortable if we are unsure of someone’s gender or have issues coming to understand our own. For some, it was an article of clothing that was too “boyish” or “girlish” to wear, while for others it was noticing certain behaviors such as preferring to play with trucks and cars rather than dolls, and realizing the societal expectations that encourage boys to play with trucks and cars. Many of us can remember the first time we became aware of our gender. What is gender? The term sex refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women, while gender refers to society’s constructed roles, expectations, behaviors, attitudes, and activities that it deems appropriate for men and women. Most of us never consider whether music is gendered, but any system that is part of a culture, even a musical one, is bound to include any general perceptions and values of the society as a whole. This chapter addresses the issue of several types of musical inclusion, including music and gender, and music for children with autism, ADD/ADHD, learning and physical disabilities.
Social pressures, stereotypes, and changing attitudes and perspectives can inhibit inclusion and lead to exclusionary practice.
Allowing all children equal access to an art form is more difficult than it sounds.
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