sidney-crocby:

band-geek-things:

thetattooedmezzosoprano:

sexism-on-stage:

I play bassoon in our intermediate band and double bass in the senior band. The last time our school bands did a concert, there were I kid you not at least 4 White Moms™ that came up to me and yelled at me for playing “instruments not fitting for a young woman” and “setting a bad example” for their daughters. One of them didn’t even know what a bassoon was (she called it a clarinet the entire time) nor what a double bass was (she called it a “big violin”), apparently it was just bc the instruments were relatively larger…like ok chill I like bass instruments what’s wrong with that I’ll hit you over the head with my double bass

A schoolmate of mine who is a female trombonist was constantly advised to “dress masculine” (slacks, ties, etc) to “match” her instrument. She refused, and instead – especially when she went to give performances at public schools for young kids – she made it a point to wear pretty clothes and makeup.

One little girl asked her (if memory serves)if she could play trombone someday too. My schoolmate and told her (approximately), “You can play anything you want, and wear anything you want while playing it.”

This is the kind of lesson we NEED to be giving our daughters – that they can play whatever the fuck instrument they want to, and look however they want playing it. STOP teaching our girls that they can’t or shouldn’t play certain instruments because they are “masculine.”

INSTRUMENTS DO NOT HAVE A GENDER! Play whatever instrument you love to play and don’t let anybody stop you! 

I play the tuba (I know) and when I started taking it more seriously, I was told that it would be very hard for me to make it anywhere as a girl playing a lower brass instrument. They told me I wouldn’t be able to wear a dress because I had to sit with the tuba between my legs, and that would be unladylike. So I turned up at my first big audition with a big flower in my hair, a floral summer dress and heels, and rubbed it in the face of all of those men that yes, I was a girl in a dress who sang classical soprano, but that also meant that I had better lung capacity than all of them. When I was at that audition, a girl came up to me who was playing euphonium (like a small tuba) and asked me if she could try my tuba because she’d always wanted to play, but had been told that it was for boys. 

Instruments aren’t gendered. Boys can be amazing at flute, girls can be kickass at tuba. Play whatever you want and have a great time doing it.