Why So Few Female Drummers?

Let our young ladies -- always saving, of course, those who have the gift for the special instrument -- leave that and address themselves to the violin, the flute, the oboe, the harp, the clarinet, the bassoon, the kettledrum. It is more possible that upon some of these instruments the superior daintiness of the female tissue might finally make the woman a more successful player than the man. -- Sidney Lanier, 1898

When I joined school band in elementary school, I settled with the flute after learning my favorite teacher played. The flute section was quiet, reserved, and female, just like myself. No boys were in the flute section, which now surprises me considering the most famous flautists are male, such as James Galway. Girls played the flute, oboe, and clarinet, and boys were drawn to the saxophone, trumpet, and of course, percussion. Since I didn't see any female drummers on TV, I wondered if females SHOULD play drums. Was it acceptable for females to be drummers? If not, how come? Like I said in a previous blog posting, the drum set was not even offered, but even it was, would I have selected the drum set, knowing that I would most likely be labeled a tomboy by my peers?

The first female drummer I ever saw was Caroline Corr, drummer of the Irish pop band, The Corrs. They were performing their song, "So Young," on MTV Unplugged in 1999. I was beyond excited. Caroline styled her hair half up, half down, and wore a red dress. She energetically moved her arms around the set and smiled every now and then. Though the camera mainly focused on the lead singer and violinist, I could not wait for the camera to flash back on her. I was used to seeing drummers like Travis Barker and Tommy Lee -- lanky, tattooed, wild males. I definitely adored them, but I wanted to see a drummer I could identify with, someone who would make me feel like it was acceptable to want to play the drum set. I wanted to throw my arms in the air and create the sizzle sound of the cymbals and cracking sound of the snare that perked my ears, making me want to dance.

Seeing Caroline changed the stupid stereotype for me at 12 years old. Girls could play drums. Playing drums was a matter of WHEN not IF. Luckily, I am able to fulfill my dream 11 years after I first watched The Corrs' performance. I am also lucky that my drum teacher does not find it strange that I have a huge desire to play.

A few months ago I went to see Adam Lambert at the 9:30 Club. Allison Iraheta was his opening act, and I was delighted to see the drummer, who happened to be female.

"The drummer is a girl!" I said to my sister.

I quickly took the following picture of her. (Her name is Valerie Franco)

How come 11 years later I am still surprised to see a female drummer? And why are female drummers uncommon? Female drummers are out there, such as Debbi Peterson (The Bangles), Torry Castellano (The Donnas), and Elissa Bello (The Go-Go's), but are any of these female drummers household names? Everybody knows Buddy Rich, Ringo Starr, and (I hope) John Boham (Led Zeppelin). Maybe if female drummers were more recognized, females would feel more comfortable playing.

I wonder if females shy away from drums because they think they need massive upper body strength. Maybe some think playing is very powerful and violent, considering it's an instrument that you have to HIT to create a sound. The flute and clarinet are much more delicate -- all you have to do is gently move your fingers and make sure your embouchure is correct. Drumming is very physically demanding, though does not require much strength. Speed and technique are mostly formed by wrist control and muscle memory. Your heels and legs move, too, but again, not much strength is needed.

Maybe the misconception that major strength is needed is that the majority of male drummers on TV, like Travis Barker (pictured to the right) and Tommy Lee, are muscular guys with tons of energy. The two of them drum shirtless with tattoos covering their arms, neck, and chest.

In a BBC News article "Why don't girls play guitar?" I found this quote interesting:

The size of the instrument (bigger, male), its pitch (higher, female) and the physical characteristics needed to play it could be partly responsible.

Though the size probably does not have much to do with it (like the article suggests, the harp, a "feminine" instrument, is pretty large), the weight of the instrument might. Females supposedly prefer lighter instruments. However, the idea stems from adults, not children. Parents might look in horror when their daughter says she wants to play drums -- the gender stereotype is an influence they don't even notice. Drums are heavy, but not unbearable. I remember feeling very lucky that I was out on the football field with my little piccolo when the drum line had their equipment strapped around their shoulders. But that was only necessary for marching band. Regardless, their love of drumming was so strong they never even complained about their hefty equipment.

It's not surprising that gender stereotyping influences the instrument that children choose -- like I said, I don't think I would be comfortable with the teasing. In the article, peer pressure is listed as a reason students choose their instruments. Nobody wants to be teased in elementary school.

Percussionist Layne Redmond wrote a book called "When the Drummers Were Women," and a featured article with the same title for Drum! magazine online. For a large part of our history, percussionists were female, beginning with Lipushiau, a Mesopotamian priestess in 2380 BC.

In every ancient Mediterranean civilization I studied, it was a goddess who transmitted to humans the gift of making music. In Sumer and Mesopotamia it was Inanna and Ishtar; in Egypt it was Hathor; in Greece, the nine-fold goddess called the Muse. Musical, artistic and poetic inspiration was always thought to spring from the Divine Feminine. One of the main techniques for connecting to this power of inspiration was drumming.

Isn't that fascinating? It's amazing how history shows that percussionists were predominately female, and now they are male and drums are considered a "masculine" instrument.

It's pretty annoying when people are surprised that I am a drummer. Is it really that difficult to understand that a quiet girl could be attracted to a loud instrument? The drum beat is my favorite part of listening to songs; sometimes I close my eyes and visualize the beat being played on my drum set so I can mimic it later. I fell in love with the sound -- I didn't care about the physical demand or size of the instrument. I just wanted to play.

I hope female drummers become more prominent so that females out there feel more comfortable wanting to play, just like I felt comfortable after watching Caroline. It seems silly that such a gender stereotype even exists...but I'll try not to let it bother me.