Music and Gender

    Gender plays a big role in a majority of different types of things. From occupations, athletics, politics and more, there is no doubt that gender has an effect. With that being said, when looking into music and how it interacts with gender we can see a strong connection. 

    For example, we see these gender roles in music in America pretty much every day. Women are known to play more soft and quiet music and are found to sing in genres like pop and country. On the other hand, men are more likely to sing and create music in the rock and rap industry. This also is seen in musical instruments as well. The trumpet is more dominated by men, while women play more of the violin, flute and piano. Not only is this seen in actual music, but we see a correlation with gender in the producer music industry as well. According to Statista, men dominate the producer industry with 97% compared to 2.8% of producers being female. This plays a major role in music because not only do men dominate the business or producing side of music, but it has created a stigma that women can't produce music. 

    Not only do we see a correlation of music and gender roles in America, but we see this in other cultures as well. In Caribbean culture, dancehall music is seen to define women as "salacious figures of sexuality, companions for men and, ideally, as mothers and caretakers of those men". According to Brown Girl Magazine, a variety of Caribbean male artists sing about the traits women should have and how they should look and dance. When these same traits are applied to men in music, it has an opposite effect. Instead of being frowned upon and making them look bad, it creates a look that men are strong and fearless. This is seen as an issue because it is causing Caribbean culture to be entrenched with sexism, misogyny and violence. It is also causing children to think they have a certain role in society based on their gender because of what they hear in music. It is leading to dancehall music becoming a toxic part of the culture, when it should be a fun and joyful way for everyone to express themselves. 

As you can see, gender and music have an important connection. It's not always a bad connection, but sometimes we see women portrayed differently than men when it comes to certain parts of music. This is not only a problem we face in America, but around the world as well. 

https://browngirlmagazine.com/problem-dancehall-musics-gender-stereotypes/ 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/801248/share-producer-music-industry-us-gender/#:~:text=Gender%20of%20producers%20in%20the%20music%20industry%20in%20the%20U.S.%202021&text=According%20to%20a%20study%20on,approximately%2097%20percent%20were%20male.