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Why is Guitar a male dominated sport?


Terrell

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Posted

What's with chicks these days? There's no reason why they couldn't play guitar just as good...

 

It's like a remarkable thing when they're good. Like they make the cover of the magazines if they can throw a lead down without open strings thrashing about...

 

Why is that?

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Posted

the guitar is, by its nature, is a phallic object and thus seen as masculine. The same as many other things; men are attracted to them due to a feeling of being able to relate themselves to it. And women are attracted to them, because of their masculine qualities.

 

This is why guitar players are notorious for getting the ladies, as opposed to singers, pianists, or drummers. Not because the guitar has magical lady-attracting properties (as much as we'd like to believe that), but more because of subliminal psychological relations that we make.

Yep, I play the gee-tar
Posted
bwahaha

 

Someone just took Psyche 101...

 

Nope, took it years ago in high school.... I just got plenty out of the class, because I really enjoy knowing how people's minds work.

Yep, I play the gee-tar
Posted

Better not let The Great Kat hear you say that stuff...

Actually, females have greater manual dexterity than men. That's a scientifically proven fact. So, women have much greater potential than men to be great players of any instrument. But, I suspect mostly they prefer to be titillated(keep it classy, dudes) by guitar players with skinny backsides and the current hair style than by playing the guitar themselves...

Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.

 

 

 

 

Posted
the guitar is, by its nature, is a phallic object and thus seen as masculine. The same as many other things; men are attracted to them due to a feeling of being able to relate themselves to it. And women are attracted to them, because of their masculine qualities.

 

This is why guitar players are notorious for getting the ladies, as opposed to singers, pianists, or drummers. Not because the guitar has magical lady-attracting properties (as much as we'd like to believe that), but more because of subliminal psychological relations that we make.

 

I couldn't disagree more. I always though that Sigmund Freud was a quack with serious mental issues who figured that, if he had strange thoughts, then other must have them as well and just didn't want to admit it.

 

I didn't start playing guitar because of it's resemblance to a phallus and any feelings of similarities to masculinity that producced, I started to play guitar because I had this music in me that needed to get out. I liked the way the guitar sounded and so I learned guitar.

 

I figure that most women don't have a strong urge to play and that's the reason they don't...

Posted

Yeah...I think the guitar only becomes a phallic symbol when guys like Slash or the boys from KISS play them! :grin:

 

 

I think most guys in modern days (Rock years) are drawn to the tone of a guitar...though I think many are also drawn to the whole "front stage/limelight" thing (at least when they are young).

 

AFA women not playing too much...I always thought they just hated the idea of cutting their nails and growing calluses on their fingers! ;)

 

miroslav - miroslavmusic.com

 

"Just because it happened to you, it doesn't mean it's important."

Posted
the guitar is, by its nature, is a phallic object and thus seen as masculine. The same as many other things; men are attracted to them due to a feeling of being able to relate themselves to it. And women are attracted to them, because of their masculine qualities.

 

Gonna have to call baloney on this one.

 

I'm sure like so many other players I was attracted to guitar after hearing some guitar playing on the radio, that I felt was the most enthralling music I'd ever heard.

 

 

This is why guitar players are notorious for getting the ladies, as opposed to singers...

 

Singers don't get the ladies....? That gets the official double baloney award.

Just a pinch between the geek and chum

 

 

Posted

it is simple. since time society has dictated what is proper for girls to like and want through school , the media, parental pressure and literature. Women have been breaking free from this old way of thinking for only a short time if you consider how long we have wandered the earth. like it or not we are still programmed at a young age even now. look at toy ads on TV and see what is being fed to young minds. Girls are still being fed the crap that they are here to look good and decorate stuff. boys are fed anything that is aggressive. even the music in the ads are different. why is it suprising that less women grab a guitar?

we still have a long way to go.

women can do anything they want but there isn't much in their youth that makes them consider guitar. being bombarded with Britney and the like does not produce guitar players.

 

Posted
Who says women don't play guitars? I am fairly convinced that the current batch of "emo core" bands like Flogging Molly actually have vaginas.

 

Now THAT is friggin' funny! No matter how offensive....

 

ROFL....

Posted
Who says women don't play guitars? I am fairly convinced that the current batch of "emo core" bands like Flogging Molly actually have vaginas.

 

Heh I think I understand your reference to emo core bands, but isn't Flogging Molly more a celt punk band?? You sure Flogging Molly is who you were thinking of?

 

 

Just a pinch between the geek and chum

 

 

Posted

maybe it is that not as many paid to see women bands - not as much money, not as many women getting into it

 

Raise your children and spoil your grandchildren. Spoil your children and raise your grandchildren.
Posted
Yes FG is probably more of a Celt Punk band - I was lumping them in with a whole slew of other bands along the same lines that were on this kid's (one that I work with) I-Pod that I had to listen to all day recently....I still hear vagina tho'. It sure as hell ain't the punk rock I grew up listening to (Black Flag, Sex Pistols, etc).
Posted
Guitar (I presume you mean ELECTRIC guitar) is a male dominated sport because of people's prejudices. There is no particular reason why women can't excel in that field... whether they'd be taken seriously if they did is another question!
Posted
the guitar is, by its nature, is a phallic object and thus seen as masculine. The same as many other things; men are attracted to them due to a feeling of being able to relate themselves to it. And women are attracted to them, because of their masculine qualities.

 

Gonna have to call baloney on this one.

 

I'm sure like so many other players I was attracted to guitar after hearing some guitar playing on the radio, that I felt was the most enthralling music I'd ever heard.

 

 

This is why guitar players are notorious for getting the ladies, as opposed to singers...

 

Singers don't get the ladies....? That gets the official double baloney award.

 

Yeah... You pretty much spouted psychobabble that has absolutely nothing to do with why girls do or don't play guitar. You purport to enlighten us with science of the mind, Rumplecragstan, but instead fall victim to a scientific pitfall... The self fulfilling prophecy. You see guitar as phallic and assume (or rather, you probably read somewhere) that everyone sees it as such. That some rock players choose to exhibit their showmanship using a guitar as phallus doesn't make it so for the majority of us. ;)

 

I certainly hope I wasn't quite that obsessed with sex at age 7 & 8 when I was inspired by James Taylor, Harry Chapin, Paul Simon and Jim Croce as well as plenty of rock & roll to begin learning to play guitar.

 

I'd be lying if I said I didn't use it as an attention getter then and now, but girls and sex certainly had nothing to do with why I picked up the guitar in the first place.

It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman

 

Soundclick

fntstcsnd

Posted
Who says women don't play guitars? I am fairly convinced that the current batch of "emo core" bands like Flogging Molly actually have vaginas.

 

Point taken however you're naive if you can't see the still great disparity between visible male and female players. I think there are plenty of female guitar players but it's true that on the music scene most guitar player, heck, most bands are made up entirely of men. That's not a knock on women as hard rockin' guitar players. It's a statement of fact about the industry. And it's true that virtuoso female guitar players are still thought of as a rarity in commercial music.

 

This despite excellent examples of exceptional female guitar players such as Kaki King currently being lauded and Nancy Wilson (Heart), Joan Jett and others who have been around for decades.

 

Here's a test for you... Write down as many guitar players as you can who are well known. What percentage of those you can come up with are female?

It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman

 

Soundclick

fntstcsnd

Posted
it is simple. since time society has dictated what is proper for girls to like and want through school , the media, parental pressure and literature. Women have been breaking free from this old way of thinking for only a short time if you consider how long we have wandered the earth. like it or not we are still programmed at a young age even now. look at toy ads on TV and see what is being fed to young minds. Girls are still being fed the crap that they are here to look good and decorate stuff. boys are fed anything that is aggressive. even the music in the ads are different. why is it suprising that less women grab a guitar?

we still have a long way to go.

women can do anything they want but there isn't much in their youth that makes them consider guitar. being bombarded with Britney and the like does not produce guitar players.

 

Yep... This happens to a lesser extent now vs. when we were kids but it still happens. ;)

It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman

 

Soundclick

fntstcsnd

Posted
Wasn't there also something about differences in forearm and wrist strength/dexterity between men and women...and because of that...it's just a more awkward instrument for most women to play...?

miroslav - miroslavmusic.com

 

"Just because it happened to you, it doesn't mean it's important."

Posted
What's with chicks these days? There's no reason why they couldn't play guitar just as good...Why is that?

 

'Cos they don't have nuts!

 

How can you play with balls, go balls to the wall or balls out, put some cajones in your playing etc....IF you don't have any?

 

Physical impossibility....... sorry...they just can't do it!

 

:eek:

 

 

:laugh:

 

Actually there are a bunch of very fine women players...Leni Stern, Bonnie Raitt, Kaki King is awesome, Debbie Davies and on and on........overall I would say a girl ( or anyone for that matter ) would seem pretty smart to not want to be a guitar player.....we are a dime a dozen anyway :) .....there are much more admirable instruments to pursue.

 

 

 

Posted
Wasn't there also something about differences in forearm and wrist strength/dexterity between men and women...and because of that...it's just a more awkward instrument for most women to play...?

 

But it doesn't seem to stop them from being fine violinists and cellists! (and pianists, but that's a different set of muscles!)

 

 

Posted
[i ]t is simple. ince time [immemorial,] society has dictated what is proper for girls to like and want through school, the media, parental pressure and literature. Women have been breaking free from this old way of thinking for only a short time if you consider how long we have wandered the earth. [L]ike it or not we are still programmed at a young age even now.

Though this is certainly a popular concept, and an anecdotal, corelative case can be made for it, corelation is not causation. Parents who have kept their young boys away from gun toys are horrified to see their sons point bananas and their fingers like a gun and say "Bang! Bang! Youre dead!" That constitutes evidence that the behavior is inherited, not programmed.

 

[L]ook at toy ads on TV and see what is being fed to young minds. Girls are still being fed the crap that they are here to look good and decorate stuff. (B)oys are fed anything that is aggressive. [E]ven the music in the ads are different. [W]hy is it suprising that less women grab a guitar?
Perhaps it is the other way around. Perhaps if they marketed the stuff that they now market to girlsusing that styleto boys, they would have no sales because boys would be uninterested... My daughter had virtually no contact with advertising in her 1st 4 years. But her favorite color was pink, she always opposed wearing pants (preferring dresses and skirts). Traits claimed as marketed into existence arose spontanelously in her.

 

Because of that, she would be the target of the kinds of ads you describe, but not to shape her, but to appeal to traits she has already developed spontaneously, in apparent response to her gender.

 

 

[W]e still have a long way to go.

Feminism has done more real harm to women than can be easily described. Feminists are violently oppposed to some choices women might want to makein the name of freedom of choice!more women are subjected to violence by being unaturally forced onto "an even playing field," (the list goes on and on).

 

Feminism was invented by ugly women who wanted an even shot at men, and was marketed to all women on grounds other than that. (I'm not saying that all women who now harbor feminist ideologies are ugly, and want a shot at men that they could not otherwise enjoy, but that the founders and those creating feminism fit that descriptionoften though not universally.)

 

 

[W]omen can do anything they want but there isn't much in their youth that makes them consider guitar. (B)eing bombarded with Britney and the like does not produce guitar players.
They are not blank slates. Plus, they have seen Josie :sick:, Joan Jett, the Wilson sisters, Joan Baez, Dolly Parton and others. Plus, Charro was for a long time the worlds 2nd best flamenco guitarist, and (I believe) is now number 1.

 

My feeling on this is that guitar playing is an aggressive thing to do. Men are naturally more aggressive than women.

 

Guitar playing is also a form of braying, something that comes more naturally to men (and lions, and roosters . . .).

 

Regarding the harm that feminism has done to women, consider your premise: Women are helpless to follow the programming that they receive. Their choices are not legitimate, but are the result of brainwashing. This becomes a subtle impugning of women's motives and character unless they choose pre-selected career pathsthe subtle prejudice of low expectations.

 

Your one statement is quite accurate: Women can do anything they want to. And that holds whether it is what I would chooseor what I would choose for themor not.

Posted

Now here's another question/consideration...

 

How many guys really like seeing a women "guitar slinger"...strutting her stuff...really rockin' out...and playing like she has some cajones...or are most put off by that image? ;)

 

And them maybe most women are just put off by the whole testosterone-rich vibe that seems to be required/associated with playing rock-n-roll lead guitar?

 

 

miroslav - miroslavmusic.com

 

"Just because it happened to you, it doesn't mean it's important."

Posted

As far as inclination, think of how common it is to see young guys playing air guitar, but how rare for young women...

 

Electric guitar has about it that which appeals to men more than that which appeals to women.

 

The same is true of engineering.

 

The same is true of philosophy.

 

The same is true of motorcycles.

 

The same is true of surgery.

 

The same is true of trucks.

 

The same is true of airplanes.

 

The same is true of guns.

 

The same seems to me to be true of idle whistling. (But I think women are more inclined to hum.)

 

The same is true of programming computers.

 

The same is true of hobby electronics. Ever known a woman who knows how a vacuum tube works?

 

How many guys do you know who, when there is an argument about the rules in playing a board game, take the time to make sure that the other person isn't offended?

 

Men and womenon balanceare drawn in different directions. There is some cross-over, to be sure. But, taken as a group, there are stark differences. These differences are far to vast, and far to common from one culture to the next, to be ascribed solely to programming.

Posted
How many guys really like seeing a woman guitar slinger...strutting her stuff...really rockin out...and playing like she has some cajones...or are most put off by that image? ;)

Myself, I really dig it. I want to grab a guitar right away, and join in. I want to get a relationship going, so that we can jam together, talk about song ideas, etc. (I want to, but I'm married to a non-guitar player, so I merely note the urge. :/ )

Posted

I believe that the answer is far simpler than most people think:

There aren't copious amounts of female guitarists for the same reason there aren't copious amounts of females in warehouses or machine shops or welding. They're just not that interested. There are always exceptions, but that's the general rule.

Ask not what your guitar can do for you, rather ask you can do for your guitar without provoking a divorce or a visit from the police.

- with profound apologies to JFK

Posted

Now here's another question/consideration...

 

How many guys really like seeing a women "guitar slinger"...strutting her stuff...really rockin' out...and playing like she has some cajones...or are most put off by that image? ;)

 

And them maybe most women are just put off by the whole testosterone-rich vibe that seems to be required/associated with playing rock-n-roll lead guitar?

 

 

I Love it! I thi

Posted
Guitar (I presume you mean ELECTRIC guitar) is a male dominated sport because of people's prejudices. There is no particular reason why women can't excel in that field... whether they'd be taken seriously if they did is another question!

 

Definitely!

 

When I bought my Stinger back in the 1980s, people joked that I was a "wild woman" for having an electric guitar -- especially one that was turquoise and had a whammy bar. I did read somewhere that Martin actually tried to market these guitars to women, which is probably the color was actually named "tiara turquoise!"

 

I never had any female guitar heroes to speak of -- most of what I saw on TV were male guitarists. I just wanted to play guitar.

 

I don't know why there aren't more really good female guitar players. I have noticed that there are a lot more female singers that are accompanying themselves on guitar. Years ago, that in itself was a rarity, so maybe things are slowly changing.

 

As for myself, I want to be a really good accompanist. Some people may see that as a lack of ambition because it is not a lead position, but it is a very important role to play, even if it is not "glamorous".

 

I find it funny that the lack of good female guitar players seems to be an issue with men, since it isn't an issue with me.

 

Michelle

 

My new baby is a 2002 Collectors by Ovation

 

I think this is a cool song title -- "Can't Remember to Forget"

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