Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Gal Talk
As a first-time, virgin-newbie poster to this blog, I offer greetings to all. The following was written in response to the many good posts residing under the "Guy Talk" topic heading.
Jerry Bowles, David Toub and others wonder why there aren't more women composers. I echo Beth Anderson and reply that there are tons of us out there; from my vantage point it seems that nearly half the living composers who come to mind daily are women: Tower, Chen Yi, Thomas, Oliveros, Higdon, Zaimont, Zwilich, Leon... they and many others are far more prominent than the majority of living male composers.
My observation has been that fewer women choose to pursue professional composing careers as do men. Now, you can argue that this is because the field is inhospitable toward women, but that's too simple and increasingly incorrect. I see other reasons–some biological–at play here. I can tell you firsthand that in the commercial music world, the deadlines are so stressful that a number of women choose their families over pursuing a crazed profession; I know plenty of women who set aside their composing careers after they had a child. And a great many of the successful male composers I know who have kids also have a wife who runs the household so that they can work the insane hours necessary.
Aha! That's it! I need a wife!
In the interest of clarity, my next comment refers mainly to white, middle class American females with a modicum of education: reality is what we women visualize for ourselves. If we can blithely glide through life assuming that we will rise or sink based on our individual merits or failings, chances are reasonable that this will be the case. Conversely, some women possess a pessimistic emotional undertow that subtly frames their view of the world and becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. In stating this, I'm not denying the reality of any discrimination such women have faced in the past, but I'm suggesting that we each have the power to change our perceptions and therefore our sense of what reality is and can be.
I'm 43 years old, and extremely quick to proclaim that the generally happy musical life I've led is a direct result of the efforts of women who have come before me; I thank them profusely. My working life as a composer has been entirely different than theirs and than that of many women. I have never personally experienced any negative discrimination. In no way am I alleging that discrimination is still not an enormous problem. Of course it is. But I believe that the best way to combat it begins as much with a woman's internal honesty about her deeply held assumptions of the world and how she views herself in it, as it has to do with working to convert unquestionably outrageous external biases. Change occurs from within.
I am not particularly special, nor am I the most talented composer. But I was fortunate to grow up with parents who instilled in me a sense of self worth, which has translated to my attitude of abundance. And that in turn has translated to my ability to work in largely male-dominated parts of the music industry (not only as a composer but as a recording engineer, a booth recording supervisor for Star Trek, and a record producer) without ever thinking I was any different from my male counterparts.
The only discrimination I ever faced was when I was occasionally hired on projects because I was a woman. There are those foolish enough to believe that a broad might compose more sensitive music than a guy. See? Idiocy abounds in all directions!
If you're interested in hearing more of my thoughts about being a composer (not just a woman composer) you can download my article titled Compose, Communicate and Connect for the Journal of the International Alliance for Women in Music, Spring 2005 issue, on my web site.
posted by Alex Shapiro
9:16 AM
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