Klarinet Archive - Posting 000573.txt from 1997/02

From: *chelly sue* <msl@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Male & Female players
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 1997 22:21:44 -0500

i have been on this list for several months now. usually, i just read the
messages in my inbox and rarely respond, not because i am not interested,
but because, as a musician in college, i am often pressed for time. but
this time, i feel this is a debate that warrants a response. i let the
bass clarinet wisecracks slide (i play bass often and i happen to be a
good Bb player), i let the postings that really don't relate to the
clarinet go relatively unnoticed. this, however is ridiculous.

in case a few of you haven't noticed, it's 1997, not 1897 when women were
too busy fainting from being confined in whale bone corsets to learn to
play an instrument. a woman is capable of playing an instrument as well as
any man. in fact (and this is an actual fact), women may have a easier
time with the fingerings on the clarinet (and other instruments) because,
during puberty, the cartilidge in their fingers does not stiffen the way a
young man's does. that's right, folks. unless a boy starts playing the
clarinet at a young enough age and keeps up his playing throughout his
adolescent years to keep his cartilidge supple, he will most likely have a
more difficult time fingering some of the notes later on. this can of
course be overcome with diligent practicing. and as far as that "abdominal
breathing- men do it better" theory that was put forth on the list goes,
you can suck more than my wind, fella!

please excuse my being so blunt, but sexism truly disgusts me. as a female
music major, i am confronted with it all of the time, be it by my peers or
my teachers. my take on the whole situation is that chauvenist men are
usually afraid that there's a female out there that can best them at their
own game. regardless of whether or not that is true, i believe that all
people should be looked upon as equals and trivial things like sex, color,
religious faith, etc. have nothing to do with one's ability to perform on
an instrument.

i applaud the people on this list who make my e-mail inbox an informative
and interesting source. i thank you all very much. for the one or two
people who would rather debate the human anatomy/sexuality, sorry, that's
another list altogether- why don't you go find it?

michele

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to live is to find something worth dying for.