Christine Anderson is a viola player. On top of her work as an orchestral and chamber musician, she’s part of Her Ensemble, a free-form string group that aims to make a positive impact on the gender gap and gender stereotypes in the music industry. Last year, she wrote a guest blog for the Musicians’ Union about the irony of finding the improvements on representation and participation of women in the industry somehow anxiety-inducing. In summary, this happens because there are so little women composing or playing, that we instinctively fear one of them will make a mistake and doom all the others behind her to closed doors and failure. This instinct is rooted in mysoginistic ideas and must be challenged. Hence, the campaign to allow an accept mediocrity in women, the same way we already do with men.
The idea may be disconcerting without full elaboration. To get the whole picture, please read Christine’s full article: Musicians’ Union guest blog.
I think that points of view like hers are very important. I wholeheartedly agree with the idea that women have more pressure as musicians. As Christine says, men get to be individuals, while every woman is burdened with representing all women, turned into a champion of our ‘cause’ as gender. Our presence in male dominated spaces is suspicious, so we have to prove ourselves constantly to demonstrate we got there thanks to our dedication and excellency, not because someone needed to fill a diversity quota, or due to some other disrespectful and sinister reason.
It’s all about unrealistic and unfair expectations. I recall how, many years ago, a friend of mine told me that I sounded like a man when I played the sax. They thought that I didn’t have to play so hard —apparently, they thought that I was ‘trying a bit too hard’, as Christine puts it. They said that it’d be better if I allowed myself to be a woman. This inane comment brings a lot of questions to the table: What does it mean to be a good musician? What does it mean to be a woman, and a good woman, at that? Can I be a good musician and a good woman? What does it mean to play like a man? If I play like a man, will I be afforded the same understanding towards mistakes that men receive? Will I be taken seriously? Will I get work?
The range of movement and expression you’re allowed as a female musician is very small. Things that would never be an issue for a man are things that women should change, hide, remove. To perform, a man may put on a suit, but he can go on stage on a t-shirt and nobody will mind. Me? I have to do the hair, the nails, the lashes, the outfit. I have to be glossy to be taken seriously. Most absurd of all, I have to look younger than I really am (at least, I have my genetics to thank for being favourable in that regard). Female colleagues who do pop music are expected to wear very little clothing, they’re expected to know how to dance while singing, catwalk like supermodels, the list goes on.
Music should be about music, not about appearances. When a woman gets to a certain position in the industry, her merits shouldn’t be questioned because of her gender. Most importantly, she should be granted the same grace as men in her level, and asked the same things, nothing more. Unless we challenge these pervasive expectations, whatever progress we achieve in the representation and participation of women in the industry will not translate into real change.
