Gender and the performance of music

Abstract

This study evaluates propositions that have appeared in the literature that music phenomena are gendered. Were they present in the musical “message,” gendered qualities might be imparted at any of three stages of the music–communication interchange: the process of composition, its realization into sound by the performer, or imposed by the listener in the process of perception. The research was designed to obtain empirical evidence to enable evaluation of claims of the presence of gendering at these three stages. Three research hypotheses were identified and relevant literature of music behaviors and perception reviewed. New instruments of measurement were constructed to test the three hypotheses: (i) two listening sequences each containing 35 extracts from published recordings of compositions of the classical music repertoire, (ii) four “music characteristics” scales, with polarities defined by verbal descriptors designed to assess the dynamic and emotional valence of the musical extracts featured in the listening sequences. 69 musically-trained listeners listened to the two sequences and were asked to identify the sex of the performing artist of each musical extract; a second group of 23 listeners evaluated the extracts applying the four music characteristics scales. Results did not support claims that music structures are inherently gendered, nor proposals that performers impart their own-sex-specific qualities to the music. It is concluded that gendered properties are imposed subjectively by the listener, and these are primarily related to the tempo of the music.

Gender and Music Composition: A Study of Music, and the Gendering of Meanings

“…It has previously been demonstrated that gendering is not imposed on music by the performer (Sergeant and Himonides, 2014 ); if, as our results demonstrate, gendering is not inherent in musical phenomena themselves, then a necessary conclusion is that gendering originates in the only remaining link in the music communication chain—i.e., by subjective prescription by the listener. In this case, it is possible that the degree of perceived gendering might vary according to the listener's self-concept and degree of sex-self typing.…”

“…It has previously been reported that masculine or feminine associations may arise from music when a combination of characteristics of musical valence are present. For example, an impression of masculinity may be gained with faster tempi, but music at slower tempi may be perceived as feminine (Kellaris and Rice, 1993 ; Horn and Costa-Giomi, 2011 ; Sergeant and Himonides, 2014 ). T -tests were therefore applied to data from the Music Characteristics listeners to ensure that no differences were present between female-and male-composed extracts: all tests proved non-significant, confirming that in these respects no such influences could cause bias in data of the composer-sex attribution.…”

“…Juslin ( 2001 , p. 324) talks of the presence of cues rather than codes, suggesting that these might devolve on factors such as tempo, dynamics, timing and articulation, (of which tempo and dynamics appear to be the prime agents (Kellaris and Kent, 1991 ; Juslin and Madison, 1999 ; Webster and Weir, 2005 ; Gomez and Danuser, 2007 ; Sergeant and Himonides, 2014 ), but using a lens model (Brunswick, 1956 ) he argues that these are used interactively and on a probabilistic basis, and are therefore approximate in meaning, and not representing a systematic lexicon.…”

Music and misogyny: a content analysis of misogynistic, antifeminist forums

“…= 1, p = 0.000). As others have shown, gender bias in musical judgments and the tendency to denigrate work linked to or produced by women (Sergeant and Himonides 2014; Schmutz and Faupel 2010) seem even more pronounced among this community.…”

Evolutionary origins of music. Classical and recent hypotheses

“…In modern orchestras, gender proportions are evenly distributed (Sergeant and Himonides 2019), with the percentage of female performers increasing per decade (Dukes et al 2003). Secondly, the structure of the music itself does not contain any characteristics that would allow the performer's gender to be identified (which cannot be inferred from recorded music) (Sergeant and Himonides 2014). The few gender differences documented concern low level perception of music as transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (Cassidy and Ditty 2001), and pitch memory (Gaab et al 2003), which do not take into account the complexity of music.…”