Klarinet Archive - Posting 000268.txt from 1999/02

From: DHmorgan@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] Women and orchestras
Date: Sat, 6 Feb 1999 19:02:50 -0500

In a message dated 2/6/99 9:16:26 AM Pacific Standard Time, bhausman@-----.com
writes:

<< >
>DOUBLE-BLIND AUDITIONS MIGHT NOT TOTALLY SCREEN OUT UNFAIR BIASES.
>
Foreknowledge of the race, gender, etc. of the auditioner, and a judgement
colored by that knowledge, is biased. A judgement made solely on the
performance, whatever factors may have influenced that performance
unbeknownst to the judge, is NOT biased. It may be wrong, it may be
coincidental, it may even be influenced by factors within the performance
itself that somehow subtlely relate to race/gender, but it cannot be BIASED
unless the judge is somehow AWARE of the biasing information.>>

We need to discriminate here between conscious and unconscious bias.

<< He may be unaware of its EFFECT upon him, but he still must know the
information or it can HAVE no effect. Now if you are saying that you know of
judges who
can reliably detect a female's playing as being different from a male's, or
a black's from a white's, even behind a screen, then disregard my entire
argument. If they can tell, they CAN (but will not necessarily) make a
biased choice. But what do you want? Double blind AND DEAF auditions? >>

I have at no point in time expressed or implied that I WANTED anything! I
wanna play my clarinet and I want a couple million dollars for my next
screenplay! I have suggested, however, that if the logic I'm bringing to bear
on this argument has any validity, then it might give a thinking person pause.
Just because a problem has only unacceptable solutions, or no solution at all,
doesn't mean it is not a problem. I think as we all grow older, we begin to
realize that not everything in life can be fixed--actually, very little in
life can be fixed! But still, we try.

Don

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