In the world of jazz, it’s men on drums and trumpets while women settle for the flute
Janet Albrechtsen, The Weekend Australian, Saturday:
Women may not want to go to Canberra in the same numbers as men. That’s not a judgment … of women who enter politics or women who don’t have children. It is a reality. When women … complain about unequal representation, they could mention that difference. It honours women who make different choices. And feminism is about choices, right?
Lionel Shriver says jazz has a problem, The Spectator, November 24:
Jazz and jazz education make up a small world, but gender disparity has become a mighty tempest in this teacup. In September, the majority … at a Europe Jazz Network conference endorsed a ‘Manifesto on Gender Balance in Jazz and Creative Music’. Last month, the Berklee College of Music launched an Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice … Only one in 20 jazz instrumentalists now being female, how do we get half the performers … without compromising standards?
Cat Hope in The Conversation, June 16, 2017:
Across the Australian jazz industry, women are disturbingly under-represented. There are … few female jazz composers and instrumentalists. Indeed, many female instrumentalists feel they need to be better than their male counterparts to get gigs. Some musicians even believe certain instruments are more suited to men than women. Drums, trombone and trumpet are seen as masculine and the flute, clarinet and violin as feminine.
Janelle Gaines, Cornell HR Review, May 3, 2017:
Throughout history, most notable scientists were always (predominantly) male. These preconceived notions that women receive at a young age may minimise their participation or interest in science and engineering fields and lead them to more female-dominated roles such as teaching. Another reason that women stay away from (predominantly) male-held careers is because women sometimes set very high standards for themselves that hinder their ability to work well in male-dominated environments. Employees are said to perform better in their own gender-dominated … career field. Women are seen as role models where they can use coaching styles in female-dominated professions; while men may be better managing in strict command styles.
UN Women, July 2017:
Only 22.8 per cent of all national parliamentarians were women as of June 2016, a slow increase from 11.3 per cent in 1995. As of October 2017, 11 women are serving as head of state and 12 were head of government. Rwanda had the highest number of women parliamentarians worldwide. Women there have won 63.8 per cent of seats in the lower house. Globally, there are 38 states in which women account for less than 10 per cent of parliamentarians in single or lower houses, as of June 2016, including four chambers with no women at all.
Quoted by Eco Warrior Princess, the former president of Ireland, Mary Robinson:
Women are actually more inclined towards that more modern leadership, which is collaborative, problem-solving, enabling, consultative, not just trying to assert a kind of hierarchical power.
Eco Warrior Princess continues:
Dirty politics and its extremely negative effects turn off most women from participating … journalist Bim Adewunmi wrote: “Who but the most thick-skinned would willingly go through a cycle that so closely scrutinises female politicians’ fashion choices, sexual pasts and … childcare arrangements?”