Sex-stereotyping in Children's

Preferences for Musical Instruments

Rosemary Bruce and Anthony Kemp

This paper considers the effects of children's gender associations on their preferences for
musical instruments, and questions whether the limited range of instrumental selection
made by boys can be regarded as a result of such associations.
The research project was devised to investigate the responses of infant school children to
male and female musicians. The findings indicated that instrumental preferences were
influenced by gender associations which could be lessened by providing positive role models.
Whereas girls were more able to cross over gender divisions than boys, boys had a narrower
range of interests in instruments. It was shown that the provision of an opposite gendered
role model helped to overcome the associations made with particular instruments.

Introduction
Concern has been increasingly expressed about boys not participating as fully as they
might in musical activities, and it is recognised that they do not have the same wide
range of interests and preferences as girls have for learning musical instruments. The
question that arises is whether boys are actually being excluded due to girls' greater
participation, or that their more limited range of interest for playing certain
instruments is a result of the influence of gender associations. A growing body of
research suggests that children's choice of particular instruments is based on a form
of sex-stereotyping of those instruments. The findings of Abeles and Porter (1978)
suggested that gender appeared to be associated with certain instruments, and when
they considered how and when gender associations were formed by children, they
found a significant sex by age interaction. At the youngest age both boys and girls
selected 'masculine' instruments, but with increased age only the girls' choices moved
towards the 'feminine' instruments. As a result, older girls had a wider range of
preferences than the boys. Griswold and Chroback (1981) also found that girls had a
wider range of preferences for musical instruments and were more favourably
disposed towards music than boys. However, Abeles and Porter (1978) concluded that
a more careful presentation of instruments might help to reduce sex-stereotyping
because boys responded differently to unbiased presentation of instruments. Their
concern was that gender association of instruments seemed to be a critical factor in the
selection of instruments. It was clear that, in these circumstances, children would not
have equal opportunity to learn the full range of musical instruments. Following from
this, the suggestion was made that children ought to be helped to overcome the
problems which sex-stereotyping creates in limiting their experience. One approach to
overcoming these problems is to provide appropriate role models and, by providing
positive role models, to encourage children to challenge their sex-stereotyping
responses to instruments (Harper, 1986).

B.J. Music Ed. (1993), 10, 213-217 Copyright © 1993 Cambridge University Press
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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0265051700001777 Published online by Cambridge University Press

 Sex-stereotyping in Children's Preferences for Musical Instruments Rosemary
Bruce and Anthony Kemp

The question to be addressed here is whether the gender of an instrumentalist

influences the way in which an instrument is perceived and is therefore sex-
stereotyped by young children. Kemp (1982) found evidence to suggest that some
brass and woodwind players were more rigidly sex-stereotyped than other musicians.
Children may well perceive these differences, and select instruments accordingly.
Smithers and Zienteck (1991) have shown that children aged between five and six,
entering school, have already acquired an over-simplified and exaggerated view of
male and female roles. They stress the need for young children to see their role models
actually participating in activities which the children are being asked to fulfil.
Therefore, if boys see a man playing a 'feminine' instrument, will it be perceived as
less feminine, and, as a result, attract more boys to it? The hypothesis of this research
is that boys select masculine instruments when played by either men or women, and
will choose ' feminine' instruments only when associated with a male player. Girls will
have a wider range of selection but will have preference for instruments demonstrated
by female players (Bruce, 1992).

Research Design
The research design involved giving a series of short demonstration concerts to
children aged between five and seven. The four schools used in the project were of
similar size and reflected the same socio/economic and racial mix. The musicians were
chosen for their similarities in both personality and physical appearance. They were
instructed to dress informally in dark clothes and to remain seated throughout the
concert programme. There was an equal number of women and men musicians in each
concert, and equal numbers of girls and boys in each group.
Two schools were given demonstration concerts by string and woodwind
instruments, stereotyped by Abeles and Porter (1978) as feminine. The other two
schools had concerts demonstrating the brass family, stereotyped as masculine, and
also feminine gendered woodwind instruments. An 'A' and a ' B ' concert was given
in each of the four schools to two separate groups of children. The sexes of
instrumentalists were switched between the 'A' and ' B ' concerts. As far as possible,
the same musicians were used in both 'A' and ' B ' concerts, but they performed on
different instruments.
At the end of the concert, the children were invited, not directed, by their class
teachers to come and look at one instrument. The children were counted on their initial
movement towards the player, and the child's sex, the sex of the musicians, as well as
the instrument chosen, were recorded. The data for both 'A' type string/woodwind
concerts were aggregated, and similarly those for both the ' B ' type concerts. This
procedure was also adopted for the brass/woodwind concerts, and all the data
converted to percentages. Table 1 shows the percentages of boys and girls choosing to
look at a particular instrument more closely. The data for each instrument was
subdivided to show the degree of interest when the instrument was demonstrated by
a man or a woman. As a means of validating the children's responses at the concerts,
they were later asked to draw a picture of a person playing one of the instruments they
had seen played.
Unfortunately, the string/woodwind concerts did not have a a female player for the
woodwind instrument. Therefore subsequent discussion of the results of the
string/woodwind concerts does not include woodwind data, but does affect the
totalling.

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 Sex-stereotyping in Children's Preferences for Musical Instruments Rosemary
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Table 1. Girls and boys patterns of instrumental choice (Shown in percentages)

String/woodwind concert
Girls Boys
Instrument % Player % Player

Violin 34-5 F 19-5 19 F 4-5

M 15 M 14-5
Cello 29-5 F 22 27-5 F 10
M 6-5 M 17-5
Woodwind 36 F — 52-5 F —
M 36 M 52-5
Brass/woodwind concert
Flute 41-5 F 28-5 14-5 F 3-5
M 12 M 11
Clarinet 17-5 F 17-5 14 F 1-5
M 0 M 12-5
Trumpet 15-5 F 12 17-5 F 7
M 3-5 M 9-5
Trombone 25 F 23-5 53-5 F 20
M 1-5 M 33-5

Results and Discussion

The findings shown in Table 1 illustrate a sex-stereotyping of instrumental choice
operating as predicted by research previously cited. The girls' choice of instruments
varied in both types of concerts. Their strongest preference was for the flute (41 %).
The boys demonstrated a strong preference for the trombone (53%), and over a
quarter of those attending the string concerts chose to look at the cello. Whether the
preferences were due to the instruments, size or lower pitch remains unclear. A
quarter of the girls present at the brass/woodwind concerts chose to examine the
trombone as well. One reason for this figure, suggested by Abeles and Porter's
findings, is that young children share an interest in the 'masculine' instruments. This
is not illustrated in the trumpet percentages, however. Perhaps it is the polished
appearance and size of the trombone which attracts the children's attention;
alternatively, it could be the characteristic movement of the player which provides the
strongest influence.
One of the most striking features of these results is the children's identification with
a musician of their own sex for each instrument in all the concerts. Girls moved
towards the female musicians and boys were attracted to the male musicians. The sex
of the musician does appear to be an influential factor in the children's preferences for
instruments. For example, 23-5% of girls looked at the trombone when it was
demonstrated by a woman, but only 1-5 % did so when the player was male. A similar
example can be found in the boys' choice of the flute. Table 2 shows clearly how the
girls and boys responded to male and female musicians in both concerts.
Similar confirmation of identification with the same sex can be seen in the pictures
drawn by the children afterwards (See Table 3.) This collection was broken down by
instruments drawn, the sex of the player in the picture, and the sex of the child who
drew the picture. It was not possible to detect the sex of the player in some of the
pictures, but where the instrument was discernible these drawings were sorted
appropriately as shown.
The girls drew mainly women playing instruments. The boys' pictures revealed an
even stronger identification, as there were no pictures of women players in the

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 Sex-stereotyping in Children's Preferences for Musical Instruments Rosemary
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Table 2. Boys and girls' responses to players by sex

String concert Brass/woodwind concert

Women Men Women Men

% Girls 41 21 82-5 17-5

% Boys 14 31 33-5 66-5

Table 3. Types of pictures drawn by girls and boys (Shown in percentages)

String/woodwind concert
Girls Boys
Instrument % Player % Player

Violin 33 F 19-5 9-5 F 0

M 3 M 3
j 10-5 p 4-5
Cello 32 F 14-5 43-5 F 0
M 3 M 22-5
? 16 p 21
Woodwind 33-5 F — 46-5 F —
M 25 M 31
p 8-5 ? 15-5
Brass/woodwind concert
Flute 51 F 29-5 36-5 F 4
M 10-5 M 25-5
p 10 p 7
Clarinet 12-5 F 4 11 F 2
M 4-5 M 7
p 4 p 2
Trumpet 21 F 10-5 29-5 F 0
M 8-5 M 22
p 2-5 ? 7-5
Trombone 14-5 F 10 22-5 F 0
M 2 M 115
p 2-5 ? 11

string/woodwind concert and no pictures of women playing the 'masculine' brass

instruments. However, these might have been contained in the ambiguous sex of the
drawings.
The stereotyped preferences for instruments shown in the drawings were not always
the same as in the concert choices made by these children. The girls retained a
preference for the flute in their drawings and showed an equal division of interest in
other instruments. The boys' pictures did not correspond with the preferences found
in the concerts. The preferences for the trombone, for example, lessened as the
majority of boys chose to draw the flute. This could have been due to the difficulty of
drawing the trombone; the flute was, perhaps, easier to draw because it is held
horizontally.

Conclusions
The findings demonstrate a strong identification with the same sex player by both boys
and girls. The children moved towards a player of their own sex despite the gender
association of the instrument being shown. The boys' results showed a stronger

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 Sex-stereotyping in Children's Preferences for Musical Instruments Rosemary
Bruce and Anthony Kemp

identification than the girls. This strong identification with male role models overcame
the feminine gender associations of certain instruments.
This research has addressed the issue of gender associations of instruments and the
way in which they may result in restricting the preferences and choices of children.
Providing more positive role models appears to be one way in which we may attempt
to eliminate such sex stereotyping of instruments. Kemp (1985) maintained that
classroom music allowed, and indeed encouraged, pupils to engage in less sex-
stereotyped behaviours, and that it represented a curriculum area which exemplified
non-sexist teaching. Instrumental teachers may need to be more aware of the sex-
stereotyping operating, not only within themselves, but also accorded to the
instruments that they teach. Providing positive role models may help children to see
the false reality of their perceptions of instruments, and raise their awareness of
discrepancies between real experience and stereotyped images.

References
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GRISWOLD P. A. & CHROBACK, D. A. (1981) Sex-role Associations of Musical Instruments and
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HARPER, J. (1986) Sex-Role, Stereotyping in Music. David Sell (ed.) in Studies in Music
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publication with the School of Education, University of Manchester.

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