When Women Play: The Relationship between Musical Instruments and Gender Style

When Women Play: The Relationship between Musical Instruments and Gender Style

By Ellen Koskoff



In many societies throughout history, musical roles and performances have been proved to be divided along gender lines. In 1995, only a small 10% of ethnomusicological journals referred to women performing musical instruments (Koskoff, 1995, p. 115). These studies, classified into four basic contexts provided an important background towards a theory of gender and instrumental practices. 


In western classical music and music traditions in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa musicians were supported by a small elite or ruling class. Both male and female musicians came from a low social status, however, only women were described and linked to their roles, commonly portrayed as courtesans (Koskoff, 1995, p. 116). Examples such as the Jaina in Tunisia and the geisha in Japan highlighted the ambiguous and sometimes powerful role of the courtesan/musician. Most of their roles were related to specific social, and economic interactions between men and women, with women’s instrumental performances severely limited and linked to their potential as partners, either as wives or courtesans (Koskoff, 1995, p. 124).


“The context of courtship”, provided women of the upper and middle classes with the opportunities of learning to play certain instruments inside their homes to make them desirable for potential matches (Koskoff, 1995, p. 117). This notion caused some musical instruments across different cultures such as the koto, shamisen, and biwa in Japan, or the piano and violin in Europe to become associated with women. Young, unmarried girls would play an instrument to display “proper female behavior” or show off their “feminine accomplishments” (Koskoff, 118). Examples like the “parlour performances” on the piano, harp, and guitar in Europe and the United States during the 19th century were considered proper for young girls at home, as they required “no body movements that interfered with the portrait of grace that women musicians were supposed to have” (Koskoff, 1995, p. 118). 


On the other hand, “ritual contexts” such as shamanism, burials, initiations, and even role-reversal rituals, brought other opportunities for women performers who could play both male and female roles. The yilpinji in Central Australia, or the female shaman tradition among the Araucan of southern Chile are examples of instrumental performances where its participants are not fixed in a permanent social position, but move from one status level to another in a dynamic state (Koskoff, 1995, p. 120).


In studies of everyday life, various examples of female performances on musical instruments can be found for a variety of reasons, including simply, the purpose of self-entertainment. Examples like Java’s women rice-stamping music which is performed with hollow tubes or the chang, a Jewish harp performed mostly by women can also be found to be crossed by gender categories and roles (Koskoff, 1995, p. 120).


Relative to those of men, women’s opportunities to play musical instruments have been limited across cultures and time. Musical instruments can tell their own story regarding the complicated and ever-changing relationships between men and women (Koskoff, 1995, p. 121). Their use throughout history can be linked to different cultural domains, to socially constructed categories such as gender roles and ideologies that have been built and maintained for years, prescribing who can and cannot play and under what circumstances it can occur (Koskoff, 1995 p. 122).


In certain societies, instruments associated with men and “masculinity” were frequently linked to economic, ritual, and power. Sometimes used as part of power dynamics to limit, control or coerce. On the other hand, instruments, sounds, and performances associated with women tend to be devalued, linked to women’s marginal social status (Koskoff, 1995, p. 122).


Studying women’s use of musical instruments can help reveal broader issues of social and gender structures in different societies. Where changes in roles and gender ideologies can also be reflected in changes for women performers. Ethnomusicology journals in 1995 provided a precedent for the future of gender studies and ethnomusicology, making it evident that further research depended not only on an understanding of women’s musical practices, but upon a wider understanding of the ongoing and varied interactions, interrelationships and interdependences of men and women and how they can be enacted musically (Koskoff, 1995, p. 127).


Reference:


Koskoff, E. (1995). When Women Play: The Relationship between Musical Instruments and Gender Style. Canadian University Music Review / Revue de musique des universités canadiennes, 16(1), 114–127. https://doi.org/10.7202/1014419ar

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