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Women in brass bands

I think we need to separate the issues of playing and socialising when we
talk about women players in bands.

No reasonably minded person would dispute that women can play some of the
instruments of the band as well and in some cases better than anyone else
(eg. Sheona White is arguably the best tenor horn player in the country -
although Mrs Rushworth, Bathgate, Fulcher etc.. may well disagree!).  Maybe
lung capacity goes against (most!) women when it comes to the larger band
instruments, but thats another thread!

Where the issue of women in bands can cause problems is regarding the social
aspects of banding.  All-male bands have a camaraderie and team spirit that
cant possibly exist in a mixed band. Swearing, drinking, acting the goat on
the bus and in the bar are usually frowned upon by your more caring,
sensitive and sensible female band member! Although I must stress that I
know of several banding women who take no prisoners in this regard!

We all know what Im taking about here. Its the rugby team thing. Men have
previously objected to women in the taproom at pubs or the games room at
social clubs for the same reasons.  In the last 20 years or so we have seen
a gradual elimination of male only environments in all spheres of life with
the rise of Political Correctness and Womens Lib. This is all very well,
but theres no getting around the fact that men and women think and act
differently in almost any given situation, just ask any married man!

Other Points:

(i) Women in bands do distract male members (!) from the job of playing, and
vice-versa. I know of several examples where bands have lost players over
whos knocking who off (to use a polite euphemism!).

(ii) Bands with couples or families mean that when you lose 1 player you
lose 2, 3 or more players automatically.

(iii) Women get pregnant and leave you with an empty chair for several
months or more often than not (and quite understandably) dont come back at
all.

As Monkey points out, this all-male band issue only applies to 3 or 4 bands
in the whole country. If these bands feel they can operate better without
female members, and are able to fill all their seats with good male players
then good luck to them.

Regards,

Paul Warder (a non-PC band member)


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