Instrument gender stereotypes in children: turning the problem into the solution Introduction In this day and age

where the mass media is becoming more prevalent in our everyday lives, it is hard to imagine a world where stereotypes do not exist. Therefore, it is not surprising that gender stereotypes occur in musical instruments as well. According to a study done by Abeles and Porter in 1978 (as cited in Abeles, 2009), the flute, violin and clarinet are at the feminine end of the masculine-feminine continuum while the drums, trombone and trumpet were placed at the masculine end. This means that the flute, violin and clarinet are stereotyped as female instruments while, the drums, trombone and trumpet are considered by most people to be male instruments.

In a recent study, a group of children were asked to rank instruments in order of preference. 77.1% of the girls preferred a female instrument while 72.9% of the boys preferred a male instrument (Harrison and ONeill, 2003). This clearly shows that such stereotyping extends to children as well. There are many factors which can influence a childs instrument preference, and these factors can be classified into nature factors and nurture factors. Nature factors refer to forces that naturally alter a childs disposition toward certain instruments, while nurture factors refer to external influences which induce children to favour certain instruments. Of these factors, we know that it is those of the nurture category that play the biggest role in influencing a childs choice of instrument. Research has shown that parents, teachers, and the mass media ranked among the top six most influential sources of music knowledge among students (Ho, 2009). However, we have yet to explore how they may play a role in reducing the level of instrument gender associations in children. Hence, this paper seeks to prove that despite educators, parents, and the media being the main perpetrators of instilling instrument gender stereotypes in children, they are also the agents most able to alleviate these stereotypes and promote cross gendered instrument playing.

Instrument gender stereotypes in children: turning the problem into the solution

Educators It is true that educators do enforce instrument gender stereotypes in young students. At a young age, students may learn to play a certain instrument due to advice and influence from their music teacher (Pickering & Repacholi, 2002; Fortney et al., 1993). When Graham (2005) examined the reasons college instrumentalists chose an instrument, he found that teachers are one of the main factors in influencing their choice (as cited in Abeles, 2009). In fact, according to Brophy (1985), music teachers reinforced sex behaviours and ideas about sex roles to their students (as cited in Johnson & Stewart, 2004, p.132). Hence, we can clearly see that educators do play a role in influencing a childs choice of instrument.

Though educators currently play a role in enforcing instrument gender stereotypes in children, they also have the ability to reduce gender stereotyping in children and even promote cross gendered instrument playing. Johnson et al., (2004) found that gender associations do not have an influence on band directors when recommending instruments to students (as cited in Abeles, 2009). In fact, band directors do consider other information, such as students interest, arm length, and hand size before deciding on appropriate instruments to recommend their students (Johnson & Stewart, 2004). It is thus evident that educators specialising in music do consider other factors, apart from gender, when recommending instruments to students. Incidentally, Hallam et al., (2008) advised teachers to be more aware of instrument gender associations so as to promote more cross gender instrumental playing (as cited in Ho, 2009, p.417). Thus, we can tell that it is important for educators to be aware of the instrument gender stereotypes which exist today. This is because with that knowledge, they will be able to consider other factors, other than just gender, when recommending instruments to students. This, in turn, will

Instrument gender stereotypes in children: turning the problem into the solution mitigate the negative influences of instrument gender stereotypes on children by educators, and encourage more cross gendered instrument playing.

The media The media is indeed a factor which influences our musical instrument preferences (Shehan, 1979, as cited by Pickering & Repacholi, 2002). According to ONeill & Boultona (1996), children are heavily influenced by the gender of musicians they see on television programmes (as cited in Ho, 2009). Additionally, studies have shown that children tend to prefer instruments when they see same-gendered musicians performing with it (Killian & Satrom, 2011). For example, a boy, who watches a male musician playing a guitar on the television or on the internet, will tend to prefer the guitar as a musical instrument. Therefore, it can be clearly deduced that the media plays a substantial role in shaping a childs instrument gender association.

The media has a significant ability to reduce a childs gender stereotyping of instruments, and even promote more cross gendered instrument playing due to its great influence. Studies have shown that students who saw same gendered musicians playing cross gendered instruments, tended to have an increased preference for that instrument. Bruce & Kemp (1993) noted that girls, who watched female musicians performing an instrument on the male end of the masculine-feminine continuum, had the tendency to choose that instrument. The same effect occurred in boys who watched male musicians performing on a female instrument (as cited in Pickering & Repacholi, 2002; Johnson & Stewart, 2004). Harrison and ONeill (2000) managed to succinctly summarise that phenomenon, children were more willing to choose opposite-gender instruments after viewing a concert by same-sex performers (as cited in Killian & Satrom, p.14). Therefore, by showcasing an equal amount of musicians playing both gendered and cross gendered

Instrument gender stereotypes in children: turning the problem into the solution instruments, the media will be able to create an impression in children that it is equally acceptable to play instruments on either end of the masculine-feminine instrument continuum. Not only will it reduce the effects of instrument gender associations in children, it will also encourage cross gendered instrument playing.

Parents Parents have arguably the greatest amount of influence over their childrens choice of instruments parents due to the significant amount of time spend together. Studies have proven the role of parents in instrument selection (Conway, 2000; as cited in Killian & Satrom, 2011), and that there are significant correlations between students interest in music, music practice and parental support they receive for their instrumental learning (Ho, 2009, p.415). Furthermore, parents themselves are influenced by gender stereotypes of musical instruments when choosing instruments for their children (Abeles, 2009). This means that parents, who are influenced by gender stereotypes, will inadvertently instill instrument gender stereotypes in their children. Hence, we can clearly infer that parents are a main reason, if not the main reason, for instrument gender stereotypes in children.

However, if parents have the greatest amount of influence over their childrens choice of instruments, they may conversely possess the greatest ability to alleviate these stereotypes and promote cross gendered instrument playing. As research has found that students who play cross gendered instruments attributed gender stereotyping to parental influence (Conway, 2000; as cited in Johnson & Stewart, 2004), we can safely deduce that parents are also able to do the opposite to encourage cross gendered instrument playing in a child. A study by Harrison & ONeill (2003) found that the children who favoured a cross gendered instrument were aware of the gender-stereotyped associations of that instrument (p.393). This means that to promote cross gendered instrument playing, the

Instrument gender stereotypes in children: turning the problem into the solution onus is on the parents to educate their children by increasing their awareness of gender stereotypes when selecting musical instruments. Once children are aware of the fact that gender stereotypes exist, they will have fewer reservations when it comes to selecting their musical instruments. Furthermore, parents are the ones who are able to control the forms of media available to their children, thus they are able to restrict the forms of media which overly stereotypes instruments by gender. Despite parents being the main perpetrators of instilling instrument gender stereotypes in children, their influence on the child, ability to restrict the forms of media available to them, and their role as educators allow them to be the most able to alleviate these stereotypes and encourage cross gendered instrument playing.

Counter-argument Studies, which show that instrument gender stereotypes become more evident with age, seem to suggest that the development of instrument gender associations in a child is a naturally occurring phenomenon. Research done by Abeles & Porter (1978) showed that with age, girls tended to prefer feminine instruments (as cited in Pickering & Repacholi, 2002). Additionally, Martin et al., (1990) found that 4 to 6 year olds didnt make a distinction between a girl with a feminine interest and a girl with a masculine interest, while those over 8 years did (as cited in Harrison & ONeill, 2003). Likewise, Abeles & Porter (1978) noted that while instrument gender associations become common during the third grade, it is less evident in young children (as cited in Killian & Satrom, 2011; Fortney et al., 1993). Thus, it seems as if instrument gender stereotypes become more evident as a child becomes older because of nature reasons.

Although it is true that instrument gender stereotypes become more prevalent with age, it is only because as children grow older, they become more exposed to nurture factors

Instrument gender stereotypes in children: turning the problem into the solution which intensify their gender stereotypical beliefs. For example, girls instrumental preferences become more flexible with age due to reasons such as having less social pressure for girls to engage in gender-appropriate activities and growing awareness that males have greater status and power (Serbin et al., 1993; as cited in Pickering & Repacholi, 2002). Furthermore, as a child grows up, he or she becomes more exposed to aforementioned influences such as educators, the media, and parents. Hence, we can safely say that nurture reasons do play the biggest role in influencing a childs choice of instrument, and as we have found out, educators, the media, and parental influence are also the agents most able to alleviate these stereotypes and promote cross gendered instrument playing.

Conclusion Even though it is common knowledge that educators, parents, and the media are the main reason instrument gender stereotypes are instilled in children, many do not know that they are also able to alleviate these stereotypical beliefs in children. In fact, they do have enough influence over children to encourage cross gendered instrument playing. However, before the number of cross gendered instrumentalist can start to rise, educators, parents, the media, and children must first be aware of the prevailing instrument gender associations and stereotypes in our society. Now that there has been no additional lessening of instrument gender associations over the past 18 years (Abeles, 2009, p. 128), parents, teachers, and anyone who has a part in influencing a childs choice of musical instrument, should educate themselves on the nature of gender-stereotyped instruments. This will in turn increase the childrens awareness of instrument gender stereotypes which will result in an increase in cross gendered instrument playing. (1804 words)

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