Random Thought

One of the excuses that seems to be levied at the female gender for why women aren't DJs is that they're not focused enough. Frank Owen mentioned this in his 1997 article in the Village Voice, that women aren't as singularly focused as men. This thought was really troubling to me, not only as a researcher, but also as a woman. I mean, I'm doing two masters degrees myself, and can't decide what I want to do with my life... I've always had a "problem" being singularly focused, and I've beat myself up over it before.

I think this idea that people have to only be good at one thing is a holdover from the fascination with virtuosity during the nineteenth century. I think that's why the guilt about liking to do a lot of different things has really hit home for me; especially as a flute player, I'm worried that I'll never "make it" as a musician if I'm not focused enough.

This doesn't seem to be the case. We had a masterclass last night, and I was noticing how well-rounded the guest artist was. Not only was she a fantastic flute player, but she also plays racquetball, has a good voice, and is a professional artist (read: painter). She has commissioned a lot of new music, and it's obviously her passion. This caused something really obvious to click in my head; Sylvia said that she felt like she had to be versatile as a woman in the field. I wonder if part of the idea that women are "less focused" is because women must be more versatile to get jobs, whether in flute performance or as DJs? I'm not really sure if I'm on to anything here, but it was a sort of uncomfortable click for me.