Klarinet Archive - Posting 000368.txt from 1995/07

From: John Gardner <Mirage@-----.NET>
Subj: Re: The effeminate clarinet
Date: Mon, 31 Jul 1995 20:56:11 -0400

>John Gardner writes that he believes his son started playing sax instead
>of clarinet because the sax is "more manly".
>
>WOW!
>
>I would have thought that this comment would have started an avalanche of
>opinions on this list.
>
>Is the sax "more manly"? Well, it does have a deeper voice. And a bari
>really hangs low. But, the real question is whether there is a higher
>percentage of females playing the clarinet than the sax. My personal
>observation is that this is true.
>
>What does this mean?
>
>I'm a writer by trade and I once wrote a piece about harps and harpists.
>Turns out that 90 percent of harpists are women. Of the remaining 10
>percent, the majority are gay. Several harpists told me that women are
>attracted to the harp because it is massive and that is embraced by the
>entire body as in an act of love. (I couldn't make that up.)
>
>The whole subject of instruments and their possible sexual overtones is
>intriguing to me. Am I alone?
>
>fred cicet

Please don't misquote me.. My son plays BOTH the clarinet and the sax. He
SEEMS to enjoy the sax more, possibly because the field is less dominated by
females.

John Gardner