I write these disjointed comments as a female member of Chicago’s new music community, and a close observer of gender dynamics. I’m a performer, not a composer — and women performers are far more common than women composers. I imagine I’ve only experienced a fraction of the ‘gender trouble’ that a woman composer might experience. But I take issue with some of the assertions Amy Beth Kirsten makes in her recent column, ‘The Woman Composer is Dead’.
She argues that it’s time to stop talking about the ‘woman composer,’ stop keeping track of how often women’s work is performed, stop complaining about women’s under-representation. She claims that, because of all the hard-fought battles for women’s authorship over the past couple of centuries, our society is now rewarded by a “relatively healthy lack of self-awareness with regard to gender.”
And you know what? On one hand, Ms. Kirsten is right. We’ve come a LONG way since the bad old days. My artistic life in Chicago is loaded with experiences of mutual respect, shared creativity, and collegiality. I gotta give props to my community:
- Male friends & colleagues regularly provide me with support and mentorship: about how to write a press release, how to promote a CD, how to conduct a search for a new ensemble member, how to keep books, and endless other things
- Male friends & colleagues fully support my ensemble’s work as collaborators and fans
- Men regularly negotiate with me in good faith over contracts, performance fees, and more
- Men generally treat me as a friend and an equal, buy me beers, allow me to buy them beers, crack my sh*t up, and inspire me creatively.
But Ms. Kirsten goes too far when she writes ” … ask young composers if they feel gender is an obstacle in their personal quest to make art. No doubt you will be greeted with total confusion and a look that betrays the thought, “Does not compute.”
Say what?! My head is spinning. To say we’ve come a long way is one thing; to say gender is no longer an issue is crazy.
A small crop of personal experiences come to mind:
-attending a New Music Chicago happy hour, having a great time, and suddenly realizing that I’m the only woman there.
- having a male coach tell my quartet that our sound was “too voluptuous.”
-having another male coach tell my quartet that we “sound like a bunch of polite women.”
- having my private teacher tell me that I needed to play more like a man (e.g. better — more sustained sound)
- looking at countless lists of composition awards and fellowships, and finding very few women
- choosing ten Twitter feeds to mention on Follow Friday, and realizing I had chosen only men
- noticing that male colleagues are more comfortable with self-promotion, which is so essential to professional success. (Research shows that when women self-promote, their likability goes down. Which successful women already knew.)
As long as gender remains an issue in our interactions (which it always will!), gender remains an issue in composition and performance.
What I’m saying is that we need to look not only at women’s rate of commissions, performances, fellowships, and composition doctorates, but also at how we can make the professional/social environment more welcoming to women. We’re doing okay. But it could be better.
P.S. We’ve got a new CD out April 15. A woman wrote the music. Four women performed it. How’s that for self-promotion?
This is a really good point that I haven’t seen brought up elsewhere. It makes me beg a few questions though:
1. Is this really a conversation about female composers anymore? I think the social/professional/boys club issue comes up equally in any field.
2. While I’m not denying your point, I do wonder about questioning the setting more than the company. I’m sure (partially because I’ve met my fair share) that there are a good number of male composers who are unfcomfortable being social and likeable over beers while their careers are on their minds. They’ve got to get over that if they want to be productive in those situations. You seem to be perfectly well able to do this too. So is it really the setting that’s the issue, or is it that society at large tends to train women that they don’t belong there, before the setting/situation are even on the table?
Thanks Nick, for reading and commenting!
1. It might not be JUST a conversation about female composers, but our field is certainly PART of the boys’ club discussion. I thought Kirsten’s column ignored the interpersonal layer of this entirely. You’re absolutely right, the problem goes well beyond our field.
2. Great point. I know a lot of men struggle to be comfortable and network in those hybrid settings. In some sense, the way women are socialized is probably helping them be successful networkers. You’re completely right, I myself am very comfortable hanging out, and I should say I pretty much adore the company at the gatherings I’m thinking of. So the question remains, why so few women? I think you may be right … the problem extends well beyond the setting … it’s a bit of a chicken and an egg.
Ellen, while I obviously recognize the importance of networking events, it hadn’t occurred to me that there could be a self-reinforncing circle where having few women participants would become a barrier to entry for other women. Let’s talk about how to make it more inclusive. Also, Amy has a concert in town this Friday (April 6th). Please come and perhaps we can all have a drink afterwards.
Jen! For the record, I think our happy hour is awesome. But I think gender balance is something to keep in mind … and an important refutation of Amy’s point. If I’m in town, drinks would be great! You’re wonderful.