1. An Introduction to Music as Social Experience
Chapter 5: Music and Gender

2. Understanding Gender Choices of clothing Gender is performed
Body stance
Speech
Gesture
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 5: Music and Gender

3. Perceptions of gender in music Reflections of cultural ideals
Ex: Strings and woodwinds as “gentle feminine”
Ex: Brass and percussion as “brawny masculine”
Women excluded from
Instruments/ensembles in some rituals
Composition activities
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 5: Music and Gender

4. Gender in Popular Music
Popular music performance – both aural and visual
Early rock ‘n’ roll dominated by white males
“Girl groups” in 1960s
Diminutive names: Bobettes, Ronettes, etc.
Song lyrics perpetuated restrictive gender roles
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 5: Music and Gender

5. Aretha Franklin (b. 1942) “Respect” Gospel, Soul singer
Composed and recorded by Otis Redding in 1965
Defensive male perspective: disillusionment with infidelity
Recorded by Aretha Franklin in 1967
Strong female perspective: demands respect, no infidelity
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 5: Music and Gender

6. Androgyny in 1970s Glam Rock
Male performers in makeup, jewelry, platform shoes
Gender ambiguity for shock value, redefining “sexy”
Elvis Presley ( ): hyper-masculine or effeminate?
David Bowie (b. 1947): androgyny as exotic?
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 5: Music and Gender

7. Gender in the World Balinese gamelan – percussion orchestra
Men’s gamelan
Intrinsic to Hindu temple festivals
Emphasize gaya
Performance with energy, showmanship
Women’s gamelan
Informal performances, outside Hindu temple
Modest, reserved performance style
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 5: Music and Gender

8. Women’s laments Songs associated with death rituals
Learned through oral tradition
Facilitate emotional catharsis
Performance characteristics:
Wailing
Speech-like song
Non-tonal pitch inflection
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 5: Music and Gender

9. “Mă Guariţă,” Romanian lament for a dead brother
Bocet – Transylvanian lament
Partially improvised
Descending four-note, modal melody
Short phrases, ending on same pitch
Descending melodic contour, sigh-like “ah”
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 5: Music and Gender

10. Habanera from the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet (1875)
Gender on Stage: Opera
Libretto often reflects stereotyped gender roles
Elements of music may enhance aspects of character’s role
Habanera from the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet (1875)
Orchestra communicates character traits
African-Cuban rhythms of habanera signal sensuality
Chromatic harmonies convey exoticism and seduction
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 5: Music and Gender

11. Act II/Scene 2, from the opera Siegfried by Richard Wagner (1871)
Expanded orchestral forces, harmonies
Leitmotives tell story
Horn call (Siegfried leitmotive)
Tonally stable
Represents youth, bravery
Chromatic, low brass (Fafner/dragon leitmotive)
Tonally unstable
Represents brutality, danger
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 5: Music and Gender

12. Gender Confusion in Opera
Gender ideals change in history
Boy soprano voice => castrato
Countertenors sing in falsetto
Cross-gender humor: Pants roles
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 5: Music and Gender

13. “Non so piu cosa son,” Act I from the opera Marriage of Figaro by Mozart (1786)
Cherubino: pants role
Adolescent male character sung by female soprano
Syncopated rhythms, fast tempo represent
Adolescent hormones
Racing heartbeat
Volatile emotions
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 5: Music and Gender

14. Lesbian and Gay Issues Openly gay performance groups: choruses
“Camp” as code, signaling themes of homosexuality
Womyn’s Music emphasizing social justice
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 5: Music and Gender

15. Music is rarely gender-neutral
Sensitive listening reveals:
Emotional power of music through projections of gender
Personal/social identity of composers, performers in their music
Reinforced social constructs
Ambiguities challenging social norms
Cornelius-Natvig, Chapter 5: Music and Gender