Nicholas Busch

Dr. K. Veblen
Music 1800
12/11/2015
Abeles, H. (2009). Are musical instrument gender associations changing?
Journal of Research in Music Education, 57(2), 127-139.
doi:10.1177/0022429409335878

Ive always noticed the gender stereotypes in a concert band, as they

were very prominent in my high school, and as a male percussion player I
cant say I was making much of a stand against it. That being said, I do not
support the stereo types present in instrument choice, I just happened to
conform to them. Abeles uses a quote stating that both boys and girls
tended to restrict themselves or find themselves restricted to certain musical
activities for fear of intruding into the other sexs territory, which is at least
partly true. While some students simply enjoy the instrument stereotyped to
their gender the most, many students limit themselves based on peer and
social pressure.
I found it shocking and frustrating that even with the rise of feminism
many gender stereotypes remained stable or increased. Although musical
instrument stereotypes changed slightly, many other stereotypes are still a
problem. I found it interesting however that rather than the stereotypes
being completely abandoned, the masculine selections remained the same

but the feminine selections became more varied, with more girls playing
traditionally male instruments. This is an interesting occurrence, since only
one side of this gender spectrum has changed, rather than none or both. I
also found it interesting that in a college setting the Tuba is considered the
most masculine instrument, since in the grade school surveys drums took
the highest male position. The fact that the flute is the most feminine does
not surprise me, as it is a well-known stereotype.
I found it very interesting to look at the attached charts that show the
percentages of male and female students principle instruments. Reading
these charts makes it very obvious that gender stereotyping instruments in a
classroom setting is very prominent and most likely will influence students to
choose instruments stereotyped to them. These instrument stereotypes are
deeply rooted in society, and even if a student does not deliberately choose
an instrument within their stereotype, they are probably being affected by it
subconsciously.
If I could ask Abeles anything, I would ask her to elaborate on why she
thinks these stereotypes still exist in the school system. One factor that she
did not consider in this article is the range of the instrument and how it
relates to the vocal range of the player. This would explain why all the female
instruments have a high register and why the majority of male instruments
have a low register. It would be easier to relate to an instrument if it directly
corresponds to your vocal range. I would also ask her to elaborate on how to

defeat these stereotypes, since these stereotypes seem very deeply rooted
in society.