Abstract
Boys seem to progress through phases in which they like to sing in early elementary school, they think that singing is for girls and, thus, unacceptable in late elementary school, and then, gradually, singing again becomes acceptable later in life. Studies speak to the difficulty that choir directors have in recruiting boys. Research shows that this may be because of the perception of singing as being feminine gendered. Many studies investigate this perception in older males, but few have investigated it in younger boys. This literature review explores the various reasons why males of all ages describe a negative perception of singing, focusing on younger boys. Suggestions for possible solutions are offered for practicing teachers in the field of vocal music.
I like singing and you just sort of sing and the music is good—well most of the time the music is awesome. I hear something and I know that I have to sing and it’s like just telling me to sing. It starts playing in my head and it comes out my mouth!
Most music educators would agree they entered the profession with a desire to share their knowledge and love of music, in some form, with their students. We all hold different educational philosophies, influenced by our varied backgrounds, that guide the concepts we place the most emphasis on in our classrooms. Regardless of what focus a music teacher may select for his or her classroom, one skill that is regarded as essential for kindergarten through 12th-grade students is the ability to “[sing], alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music” (MENC, 1994). With that in mind, it would appear that the quote from the student in Kennedy’s (2002) research study reflects well on the choral teacher’s success in her classroom. Would it surprise the reader to know that the student who expressed so much joy and enthusiasm over singing is not a girl, but is Matt, an eighth- or ninth-grade boy in the aforementioned ensemble?
Unfortunately, Matt and boys like him are not the norm in classrooms throughout the country. Researchers and practitioners refer to the continued difficulties that choral music educators face in recruiting and retaining boys in choral programs (Demorest, 2000; Harrison, 2007; Kennedy, 2002; Mizener, 1993). A large body of research has been conducted dating back to 1916, indicating that many males exhibit negative perceptions of singing, summarized by Harrison in the British Journal of Music Education in 2007. Researchers have offered possible causes of this negative perception, including embarrassment over the male voice change (Demorest, 2000; Kennedy, 2004; Killian, 1997, 1999; Radtke, 1950), early experiences with music, role models, parental and societal factors, the culture of schools, harassment (Harrison, 2007), a negative perception of their own ability to sing and the lack of an effective means by which to teach singing (Phillips & Aitchison, 1999), ineffective teachers (Kennedy, 2002; Harrison, 2007), perceptions of singing as being feminine (Hall, 2005; Koza, 1993), and a variety of other reasons. However, the boys found in Kennedy’s (2002) study elected to sing in choir, were highly engaged, and the most advanced vocal ensemble of 27 singers was almost equally proportioned between males and females. Hall (2009) shares the story of Thomas, a boy who builds his identity around singing and being a member of a choir. While there are a number of reasons that boys elect not to sing, studies also show that boys are choosing to reject negative perceptions. If educators can understand why boys reject singing, this knowledge can be used to encourage them in the positive direction.
Research indicates that the genesis of this negative perception of singing could begin in the early elementary years, forming as early as age 5 years and possibly before children even begin formal schooling in the form of masculine and feminine gender identification in music (Hall, 2005; Tibbetts, 1975; Welch, Sergeant, & White, 1997). Many researchers have investigated this topic with a focus on gender-based stereotypes influencing instrument choice, but few have included the singing voice as an instrument in their research (Harrison, 2007). Studies of boy singers in middle school and above (Harrison, 2007; Kennedy, 2002) corroborated Hall (2005) and Tibbetts’ (1975) findings, indicating that gender-based stereotypes do exist toward singing as well as instrument selection, but that there are various ways that a music educator can counteract these stereotypes.
The purpose of this review is to investigate the literature surrounding males’ often-negative perceptions toward singing. Gender distinctions will be discussed and clarified. Literature will be grouped by the grade-level of the participants, beginning with studies that included the oldest participants and ending with studies that included the youngest participants. Hall (2009) suggests that “further investigation is needed into the constructions of masculinities and femininities in early childhood music, as little research exists in this area” (p. 17). Therefore, the majority of the literature reviewed will focus on this. All studies will investigate the variety of issues that may influence boys’ perceptions of singing, and many will address gender stereotyping that is often discovered to be associated with boys and their perceptions of singing. The studies will also address potential solutions to this almost century-old problem.
Male and Female, Masculine and Feminine
In romantic languages such as French, nouns are considered to be masculine or feminine, with the article indicating gender even though the noun may not. “Le” is the masculine article and “la” is the feminine article. “La musique” translates to “the music” and is referred to with a feminine article. Although the English language is gender-neutral, we see evidence of gender stereotyping pervade our culture in the areas of vocational preferences, attitudes toward home and family responsibilities, and personality traits (Tibbetts, 1975). Fortunately, our culture has done much to neutralize these stereotypes. Unfortunately, we have not been as successful in neutralizing the perception of something as innate as singing. Countless studies have shown that singing is perceived by both sexes as being feminine gendered (Hall, 2005; Harrison, 2007; Tibbetts, 1975). This idea will be addressed throughout the literature review. Harrison (2007) stresses the idea that we should not associate biological sex with societal functions, but we unfortunately often do. The term hegemonic masculinity will also be used throughout the review. Connell (2000) explains, “some masculinities are dominant while others are subordinated or marginalized. In most of the situations that have been closely studied there is some hegemonic form of masculinity—the most honoured or desired” (p. 10). The concept of the feminine gender being assigned to singing in our culture, making it an unacceptable activity for boys, will be explored through this lens.
Perceptions of Singing of the Older “Boys”
“It [my school] wasn’t really a place for singers because it wasn’t considered ‘normal’ for a young man to sing” (Harrison, 2007, p. 275). Males in high school and beyond report both positive and negative experiences associated with singing. Two key concepts that have been investigated include older males’ frequently negative perceptions of the voice change process and their feminine gender stereotyping of the singing voice. Killian (1997) was concerned with the fact that a large body of research suggested music educators treat the voice-change process carefully, but little research had investigated how boys felt about the voice-change process. Therefore, she designed a descriptive quantitative study to interview adult men (ages 23-80 years) and boys undergoing the voice-change process, both singers (currently actively engaged in music) and nonsingers (not currently actively engaged in music; Killian, 1997). A pilot study indicated that Killian (1997) would receive the most authentic information if she included structured but open-ended questions asking the boys and men to describe, in detail, the voice-change process. Killian (1997) interviewed 164 subjects but had to reject data from 23 boys who volunteered but were not yet in the voice-change process, leaving her with data from 141 subjects. Subjects were diverse in race and represented many different types of neighborhoods (Killian, 1997). Interviews were scripted and, when examined, revealed seven categories of data, including (a) Memory, (b) Who Noticed Change, (c) Voice-Change Affected Singing, (d) Voice-Change Affected Speaking, (e) Pain/Illness Mentioned, (f) Voice Quality, (g) Overall Effect of the Experience (Killian, 1997, pp. 525-526). Killian’s (1997) data consisted of the frequency of responses to the operational definitions within these seven categories. The overall reliability of Killian’s (1997) data was .91. Frequency data were managed using the chi-square statistic (Killian, 1997). Data were computed for all seven categories for (a) boy singers, boy nonsingers, men singers, men nonsingers; (b) boys versus men; (c) singers versus nonsingers; (d) boy singers versus boy nonsingers; (e) men singers versus men nonsingers; (f) men currently musicians versus men currently nonmusicians (Killian, 1997).
Results of the data showed “no significant difference across any groups relative to the overall effect of the [voice change] experience,” but for 19% or one in five of the men interviewed, it was a negative experience in varying degrees (Killian, 1997, p. 528). One adult singer recalls, “. . .there was something in here (points to throat) that I had to force in order to reach the pitches. I burst into tears and embarrassed myself in front of the whole chorus and never sang again” (Killian, 1997, p. 528). For 81% of the men, the process was positive or neutral (Killian, 1997). Contrastingly, in a Kruskal–Wallis one-way analysis of the frequency of words that were mentioned in interviews, Killian (1997) shows that there were eight times more negative (251 mentions) than positive (29 mentions) comments made. Men used negative words 153 times and positive words only 11 times (Killian, 1997). Killian (1997) shares that “. . . memories seemed so painful for some subjects that they reacted emotionally while simply relating the incident years after the fact” (p. 531). It is important to note that Killian (1997) stated, “lifting words out of context may also mask meaning” (p. 532).
Harrison (2007) began his study by investigating examples in the research literature from 1916-2005, which indicated that boys and men of various ages did not like to sing, that they consistently chose masculine instruments, and that gender association of instruments took place as early as 8 years old. Harrison began to interpret a reason for this through the literature, citing Griswold and Chroback’s (1981) study, which found that college students labeled the choral conductor as feminine and the band conductor as masculine (as cited in Harrison, 2007, p. 268). Harrison then explained the shift that took place in the approach to gender-related studies in the 1990s in which there was less focus on stereotyping and more focus on the sociological reasons for instrument choice. He cited that Conway (2000) and Green (1997) both agreed that gender stereotyping was a large barrier for boys and that vocal music was more susceptible than instrumental music (as cited in Harrison, 2007, p. 269). Harrison pointed out that most of these studies did not include the voice as an instrument and identified the purpose of his study, which was to investigate the continued existence of stereotyping of musical participation, including singing, to discover underlying reasons for this in the musical choices for boys through the literature based on research recently conducted in Australia and to examine reasons for instrument choice and the effects of music participation choices in the lives of 21st-century males. Harrison identified that his research was approached from a postfeminist view, which included the idea that many men are oppressed in various areas—in this study, music. The study used a mixed-methods, explanatory design with a heavier emphasis on the quantitative data collected (Harrison, 2007).
In the first quantitative phase of the study, Harrison (2007) used a survey to investigate the nature and extent of stereotyping of musical instrument choice. He selected subjects through convenience sampling and administered the survey to students aged 19 to 50 years at a university in Queensland, Australia. His sample included 98 subjects, with 41 males (32 music majors and 9 nonmusic majors) and 57 females (39 music majors and 18 nonmusic majors). Harrison’s survey used the masculine–feminine continuum developed by Abeles and Porter (1978 as cited in Harrison, 2007, p. 271) that, for the first time in this type of study, included singing. The test instrument was a 10-point Likert-type scale anchored on the words masculine (10) and feminine (1). Results indicated a large portion of students did not perceive instruments to have masculine or feminine attributes, but that gender association does exist with certain instruments, with the violin and flute being identified as feminine and the drums and trombone being identified as masculine. It was interesting to note that the majority of these older students placed singing toward the middle of the continuum, with 13.3 votes at scale degree four, 28.5 votes at scale degree five, and 27.5 votes at scale degree six, indicating that 69.3 of the 98 subjects perceived singing as being gender neutral. It is also interesting to note that only 5 participants identified singing as being masculine, associating it with scale degrees 7 to 10. Harrison (2007) found that males’ perceptions were polarized and females’ perceptions tended toward the middle of the scale.
In the second qualitative phase of Harrison’s (2007) study, he interviewed males to determine their perceptions of singing while they were in high school. He interviewed 21 men of culturally diverse backgrounds between the ages of 18 and 33 years who had attended a wide variety of schools. Harrison (2007) explained that he chose to interview men of this age because “the reflections of adults brought an objective distance from the events experienced by participants in their school days” (p. 271). Through these case studies, he sought the reasons for the gender identification of instruments in Phase 1 of the study. After data were transcribed and analyzed, Harrison (2007) discovered influential factors to include (a) participants’ early experiences of music; (b) situational factors and role models, including a range of views toward singing such as it being associated with homosexuality, being discouraged by parents, and being supported as an acceptable norm by school culture; (c) the competition between music and sport; (d) stereotyping and gender issues; (e) harassment, all which demonstrated both positive and negative perceptions toward singing from males, but with generally more negative accounts of singing than positive. Many of these factors, particularly singing being associated with homosexuality, stereotyping, and harassment place singing as an unacceptable behavior for men because of its nonhegemonic status. It was interesting to note that, in discussing stereotyping and gender issues, Garry, a participant, shared, “. . . if I was going to play a stringed instrument it would be the cello as I saw it was more manly, I guess being deeper sounding or something: stupid I know” (Harrison, 2007, p. 277)! This concept of males identifying a high pitch or timbre of an instrument, including singing, as being feminine was a recurring theme in the research. Based on his findings from interviews with males, Harrison (2007) suggested three strategies to attempt to counteract rejection of singing because of its nonhegemonic status, including (a) positive teacher, community, industry, and student role models; (b) engaging and competent instructors; (c) commanding the respect of the community.
Middle School and the Voice Change
Gender Identification
That’s why I never done it before like, man, it’s like “girl stuff” like, only after I did it, it was like, you could see it wasn’t, like the only way you would know is if you actually get in there and join, but it was different from what everybody said. (Kennedy, 2002, p. 29)
Kennedy’s (2002) qualitative study examined the participation of junior high school boys in choral music. While her study depicted many of the reasons that boys do not enjoy singing, the music environment at the school was very supportive and she concluded with some very positive findings and suggestions. She studied 11 males and the teacher of a 27 member, eighth- and ninth-grade vocal ensemble. Kennedy (2002) also conducted “one group interview with three of the girls . . . to triangulate . . . with the boys’ responses” (p. 28). The setting was Cedar Hill Junior High, a suburban school with a population of 850 students, Grades 7 through 9, in a large metropolitan American city. Data included structured and semistructured interviews with individuals and with groups of three, observation, informal conversations, a written questionnaire completed by the teacher, and examination of material culture. Kennedy’s (2002) coding and analysis of field notes and interview transcripts revealed four themes, including (a) the boys’ motivation to join and remain in choir; (b) acquisition of musical skills, knowledge, and attitudes; (c) repertoire preferences; (d) perception of the choral experience—preferences and benefits. In the line of questioning that led to the first theme, Kennedy (2002) discovered evidence of hegemonic masculinity in the school that could have prevented the boys from joining choir. In this study, peer influence, “assist[ed] males in overcoming stereotypical hurdles to join junior high choirs” (Kennedy, 2002, p. 30).
Perceptions of Singing
The first theme revealed in Kennedy’s (2002) study explored the boys’ motivation to join and remain in choir. As with the studies involving older participants, Kennedy’s results were both positive and negative, but unlike in Harrison’s (2007) study, Kennedy’s results were primarily positive. She discovered one of the reasons expressed to be love of singing. When investigating the second theme, “acquisition of musical skills, knowledge, and attitudes” (Kennedy, 2002, pp. 30-31), Kennedy discovered that the boys felt a sense of pride in singing—pride in working to become independent musicians and pride in their abilities. She also discovered that they valued professionalism and presentation when singing and felt pride in exhibiting these attributes.
Strategies to Address Hegemonic Masculinity and Motivate Boys to Sing
Kennedy (2002) identified several factors that may have counteracted hegemonic masculinity and encouraged boys to sing, including (a) teacher likability; (b) a teaching style that included high expectations mixed with humor; (c) social aspects of participating in a group like a choral ensemble; (d) internal factors, such as self confidence, trust, self worth, and self-satisfaction; (e) sharing talents with an audience. Kennedy (2002) touched on the idea of fraternal mentoring, which could have been a powerful tool in counteracting hegemonic masculinity in singing, corroborating Harrison’s (2007) suggestion to use positive male role models.
The Male Voice Change
Killian (1997) began her study by reiterating that boys undergoing the voice-change process must be treated with sensitivity. This was supported by findings in her data that indicated that 13% or one in five of the boys that she interviewed had a negative voice-change experience (Killian, 1997). For 87% of the boys studied, the experience was positive or neutral (Killian, 1997). However, Killian’s (1997) analysis of the frequency of mention of positive and negative comments showed that boys made 98 negative comments concerning the voice change and only 18 positive comments, contrasting with the data first presented.
Kennedy’s (2002) study addressed the issue of the importance of selecting appropriate literature for the male changing voice. Kennedy stated, “It is one of the most significant findings of this study that range-appropriate repertoire does not appear to be a contributing factor for enjoyment among the male choristers of the Cedar Hill vocal ensemble, although there was general agreement among informants that high notes were difficult” (Kennedy, 2002, p. 32). Again, as in the Harrison (2007) study, the boys brought to a researcher’s attention the issue of high notes. The boys in the study discussed strategies for handling notes out of their ranges. Kennedy (2002) indicated that the boys did not ever mention feeling frustrated in regard to the range of the repertoire. They all accepted and coped with their stage of vocal development. Kennedy (2002) wondered if this was because of the value of the social aspect or the attraction of music and singing.
Perceptions of Singing and Gender Identification at an Early Age
“Why do girls like singing? Because boys don’t like it. Why? Because I don’t like it. Why? Because some people might laugh at you” (Hall, 2005, p. 13). In the following studies that involved students aged 5 through 11 years, researchers encountered intact groups of children who demonstrated both positive and negative perceptions of singing. These students also illustrated the existence of hegemonic masculinity, which negatively affected their perceptions of singing at an early age.
Great Singing Does Not Imply a Great Attitude Toward Singing
Mizener’s (1993) study of 542 third- through sixth-grade students, both boys and girls, investigated the relationship between singing skill and attitude. Her subjects came from a large, urban school district (Mizener, 1993). Mizener’s (1993) study was nonexperimental, descriptive, and quantitative, and her instruments included a questionnaire to assess students’ attitudes and a tape-recorded evaluation of their singing skills. She first completed a pilot study using 78 subjects, which prompted her to revise the questionnaire, answer sheet, and the administration process (Mizener, 1993). Mizener’s (1993) questionnaire, which was completed in one session, addressed (a) singing interest, (b) choir participation, (c) classroom singing activities, (d) out-of-school singing experiences, and (e) self-perception of singing skill. After the results of the written questionnaire were collected and tabulated, a smaller sample of subjects, n = 123, were selected to complete the tape-recorded evaluation of singing skill; mainly, pitch matching (Mizener, 1993). Mizener did not explain her method for selecting this smaller sample. Mizener (1993) used Smith (1973) and Flowers and Dunne-Sousa’s (1988) criteria to design her own analysis of singing accuracy. Rhythmic accuracy was assessed with either a yes or a no (Mizener, 1993). Two independent reliability observers showed a combined reliability level for assessment of the singing tests of 94% (Mizener, 1993).
Cross-tabulation analysis of data from the written attitude questionnaire showed that there was a “tendency for attitude toward music and singing to decline with increasing grade level [as] was evident in responses to items about singing interest and choir participation” (Mizener, 1993, pp. 236-237). Mizener (1993) was surprised to find no correlation between a positive attitude toward singing and the desire to sing in choir and assessed singing skill, contradicting previous studies. Mizener (1993) stated that although all students felt that singing was an appropriate activity for both genders, boys were less likely to say that they liked to sing, possibly because of a lack of positive male role models. Therefore, Mizener (1993) suggested that teachers plan opportunities to increase positive gender identification in music. She also stated that, “[i]n reality, such activities should be provided for boys in the lower elementary grades because evidence indicates that attitudes toward music are well-developed by the age of 8” (Mizener, 1993, p. 242).
Pitch-Matching Good, Song-Singing Not
Welch et al. (1997) saw that various studies conducted in Ireland, England, and Japan indicated that boys were consistently rated as being less “in tune” singers than girls. They were concerned with the lack of longitudinal studies being conducted that would allow the researcher to compare data over time (Welch et al., 1997). Thus, Welch et al. decided to design a longitudinal, descriptive, quantitative study to ascertain children’s singing development in early childhood, to determine whether children’s ability to sing in tune improved over time and to determine whether boys were less able to sing in tune than girls over time. The sample group consisted of 87 boys and 97 girls, ages 5-, 6-, and 7-years old. The students were in Key Stage 1 of the English National Curriculum for Music and were drawn from 10 primary schools in the Greater London area, providing a mixture of social class, ethnicity, and urban/suburban locations. The study took place over the course of 3½ years. After subjects were taught two songs by their regular classroom teachers under controlled conditions, researchers administered a specially constructed test, based on previous research, which included pitch glides, pitch patterns, sung pitches, and two sample songs, with vocal pitch accuracy assessed by a team of judges (Welch et al., 1997). Internal validity was accounted for by prerecording test items using a trained older child and electronically produced sinusoids (Welch et al., 1997). Tests were recorded and evaluated by a team of judges. Welch et al. did not describe the frequency or time frame within which this test was administered over the 3½-year study.
Results demonstrated that both sexes showed steady improvement in test items (pitch glides, pitch patterns, sung pitches), and boys were even slightly better at test items than girls. However, girls’ ability to sing songs remained constant and the boys’ ability was always less than the girls,’ declined steadily over 3½ years, and declined significantly in relation to the girls in Year 3 (7-year-old subjects; Welch et al., 1997). In light of a lack of significant difference in pitch-matching ability between girls and boys, Welch et al. (1997) wondered if the decline in boys’ abilities to accurately sing songs was due to them negatively identifying the act of singing songs with the sex of their music teachers (primarily females), therefore perceiving song singing as a feminine act.
Teaching Kids to Sing
Phillips and Aitchison (1999) were concerned with finding a better method with which to teach children to sing. They were also interested in discovering the effect of group-singing lessons on children’s attitudes toward singing. Their quasi-experimental, quantitative study, like Welch et al. (1997), was longitudinal and investigated
the effect that group singing lessons had on students’ aural acuity, vocal range, musical knowledge, and attitude towards singing after two years; relationship between instruction, pitch accuracy, and gender to aural acuity, vocal achievement, musical knowledge, and attitude towards singing. (Phillips & Aitchison, 1999, p. 71)
Phillips and Aitchison’s (1999) subjects included the entire fourth-grade populations (N = 85) of a rural Iowa school. Students were pretested in third grade using Gordon’s Primary Measures of Music Audiation. All subjects received formal group singing lessons with a researcher using Phillips’ textbook, Teaching Kids to Sing, twice weekly for approximately 10 to 12 minutes for 27 weeks as the treatment in the study (Phillips & Aitchison, 1999). There was no control in this second portion of Phillips and Aitchison’s study. Phillips and Aitchison (1999) tested students for aural acuity using Gordon’s Intermediate Measures of Music Audiation (IMMA). Phillips and Aitchison (1999) also tested students for pitch accuracy, vocal range, and breathing mode and administered a music knowledge achievement test and a survey to test attitude. Phillips and Aitchison (1999) found that most students passed the written music knowledge achievement test, that gender has no effect on aural acuity, that inaccurate and accurate singers scored almost the same on the aural acuity test (IMMA), and that after 2 years more than 40% of students needed considerable improvement in accurate singing. The results from Phillip’s and Aitchison’s (1999) attitude test showed that only 28% of the students liked general music class, 39% enjoyed the singing lessons, and more than a third valued singing. They also learned that most of the students held low opinions of their own abilities to sing and preferred to listen to other people sing, rather than sing themselves (Phillips & Aitchison, 1999). Phillips and Aitchison made no mention of a correlation between a child’s attitude toward singing and his or her ability to sing accurately. Phillips and Aitchison (1999) concluded by suggesting that we continue to search for more successful ways by which to teach singing.
First In-Depth Study of Hegemonic Masculinity Affecting Music in Early Childhood
Previous Literature
Hall (2005) designed one of very few qualitative studies of children’s perceptions of singing and of gender stereotyping of singing in early childhood. She reviewed a range of literature from general education that indicated that boys in Western culture felt increasing pressure to behave in masculine ways and expressed concerns about whether singing will be viewed as an acceptable behavior for boys if this continues (Hall, 2005). Hall (2005) then explored the idea of hegemonic masculinity and the unfortunate fact that there can be consequences in our culture for boys who choose to engage in nonmasculine behaviors like singing. She next pointed out that there were a variety of studies that investigated the concept of singing being considered feminine, but that these studies typically focused on higher numbers of girls than boys participating in music in secondary school, the absence of boys singing at school, negative attitudes toward singing held by adolescent boys, and the choice to not sing after elementary school (Hall, 2005). Hall (2005) listed cultures in which singing is considered completely acceptable and masculine, including the contemporary music industry, rock, rap, and jazz, cathedral choirs in England, male tribal songs in Australia, and referred to research of extroverted musicians who ignored the gender norms. Hall (2005) next acknowledged that preferences are determined largely in adolescence, but suggested that gender identification may begin as early as 2 years old, and that boys could begin to reject singing at this early age.
Hall (2005) cited findings from Welch et al.’s (1997) study that showed that from the beginning of schooling to age 7 years, boys maintained the ability to match pitch but their ability to sing a song declined. This led her to pose three research questions, including (a) do boys avoid femininity before the age of 7 years (Hall, 2005); (b) “could peer modeling positively influence boys’ perception of singing and in turn change their singing behavior” (Hall, 2005, p. 8); (c) what attitudes does this group of boys have about singing in their first year of school (Hall, 2005)? Her question about the positive use of peer modeling was based in research done at the secondary level. Mizener (1993) also suggested investigating this approach. Over the course of 19 weeks (two school terms), Hall (2005) studied “two groups of five-year-old boys (n = 38) in their first year of junior school in a private, Kinder-Year 12, single-sex school in a high SES area of inner-city Melbourne, Australia” (p. 8). She described the culture of the school as one that offered various extracurricular musical activities, but enforced typical hegemonic masculinity through emphasis on sporting achievements and performance in traditional academic subjects (Hall, 2005). Hall (2005) acted as the teacher–researcher in her study. She stated that this was not action research and that she would gather primarily qualitative data with quantitative data also being collected to ensure a rich quality of data (Hall, 2005). Hall (2005) admitted that the depth of the study as ethnography was limited by her role, but that the close relationship that she had with the participants outweighed those limitations.
Attitudes Toward Singing and Being Male
Phase 1
Hall (2005) began by measuring the development of boys’ singing voices using Rutkowski’s (1997, 2000) Singing Voice Development Measure (SVDM) to investigate a correlation between lesser-developed singing voices and negative attitudes and lower participation. She next read the boys a story. A discussion emerged about singing high in which one boy expressed his perception that “girls sing high” (Hall, 2005, pp. 10-11). Hall (2005) also explored the boys’ beliefs about acceptable instruments for boys and girls with a pictorial survey. The results were consistent with traditional gender stereotypes except with regard to piano and violin, which they had experience with (Hall, 2005). Hall (2005) shared that the subjects indicated that boys play certain instruments that are “big, loud, or low” (p. 12). For the final test in the first phase, Hall (2005) gave her students a pictorial survey of occupations with one being a singer and asked them to assign a male or female name to a gender-neutral stick figure. “25/34 [boys] labeled the singing stick figure female” (Hall, 2005, p. 13). In conversation with Hall (2005), the boys were neutral with regard to gender appropriateness of singing, but it may have been because they knew their teacher liked and was studying singing. Hall (2005) pointed out that it was surprising to find this attitude, which mirrored an adolescent boy’s attitude, in five-year-old boys in an all-male school that offered many opportunities for boys to sing. Hall (2005) suggested that boys might adopt this concept of singing as being a nonhegemonically masculine activity earlier than even age 5 years.
Phase 2
Two older male students, one 17 years old with a changed voice and one 9 years old with an unchanged voice, both highly active in singing in and outside of school were included in the classroom to investigate the effects of peer modeling on students’ participation in singing (Hall, 2005). The students developed a very close bond with the older boys very quickly and seemed to identify with them very strongly (Hall, 2005). Hall (2005) shared that when the peer model sang a choral song in classical style with vibrato and phrasing, the boys laughed and associated it with the way a girl sings. However, the boys then continued requesting to hear the song (Hall, 2005)! Hall questioned if this was because a boy singing beautifully was less threatening to their masculinity than a girl singing beautifully. Hall noticed increased participation in singing in relation to the peer models. Twenty out of 35 boys indicated that they might want to join the Junior School Choir in Year 4 (Hall, 2005). Also, many boys moved to the next level of vocal development, although Hall mentioned that this relationship could not be measured. Finally, Hall (2005) found no correlation between boys who were still in the early stages of singing voice development and boys who said they wanted to join choir, corroborating Mizener’s (1993) and Phillips and Aitchison’s (1999) findings. Hall (2005) suggested that gender stereotyping in music might begin as early as age 5 years, and that future research should investigate this problem as well as search for ways to deconstruct male stereotypes in the music classroom.
Suggestions for Teaching Practice
The review of the literature suggests various implications for music educators. Through a better understanding of the research that investigates boys’ varied, but often negative, perceptions of singing, teachers will be better equipped to counteract them. Killian’s (1997) study certainly reminds educators of the importance of being kind and understanding toward boys who are undergoing the voice-change process. Kennedy’s (2002) research suggests teachers treat middle school-aged boys as capable, independent musicians and hold high expectations of them, as they feel a sense of pride in surpassing these expectations. Kennedy’s research also suggested that teachers expect professionalism from boys of this age. Kennedy’s (2002) research demonstrates the importance of older male role models at the middle school level, possibly involving a high school buddy system for middle school-aged singers. Hall’s (2005) use of older, male peer models suggests that older boys may positively influence younger boys to view singing as an acceptable, masculine activity. Much of the research reviewed suggests that it is important to present activities and to treat students in music class in a manner that does not reflect gender stereotypes in an attempt to neutralize males’ negative perceptions of singing because of its nonhegemonic status. Mizener (1993) suggests that this must begin in the early grades to be most effective.
Suggestions for Future Research
Killian’s (1997) study shows that it could be interesting to investigate why so many older boys responded that their voice change was either a positive or neutral experience, but then an overwhelming majority described the experience using negative words. Kennedy (2002), Harrison (2007), and Hall’s (2005) studies all point to a potential investigation of why both young and old males associate high pitches or timbres with girls. This is a particularly interesting area of investigation because, in elementary school, both boy and girl voices are unchanged and high pitched, meaning that, in elementary school, boys are rejecting their own singing voices because they are high and “girly.” Harrison (2007) and Hall’s (2005) studies also suggest that research should investigate how musical experiences in the home affect gender stereotyping of instruments, including the voice. In her study, Hall (2005) ends by suggesting that future research should investigate ways to deconstruct hegemonic masculinity in the early childhood music classroom. The willingness to sing that is often seen in early-Kindergarten-aged boys seems to suggest that, if hegemonic masculinity could be confronted at an early age, boys would be free to pursue singing throughout their lives, making this an extremely interesting area of study. The lack of qualitative or action research in this area also suggests that more research of this type be done to investigate, in depth, the perceptions and potential gender biases of young boys. Finally, because Hall’s study was done in an all-boy, private school in Australia, it would be interesting and useful to replicate it in a more typical environment in America.
Conclusion
Music educators of all disciplines teach because they have a desire to share their passion for music with children. We give of our own time and talent to encourage our students’ development. When negative outside influences, such as gendered perceptions of singing, undermine our efforts, we must seek to understand these influences, search out the sources within our school and community’s culture, and develop creative methods to counteract them. The male students in Kennedy (2002) and Hall’s (2005) studies show that with the influence of a positive, creative teacher and environment boys can enjoy and identify with singing in spite of hegemonic masculinity. Connell (2000) offers us hope, showing that throughout history, constructs of masculinity have changed and will continue to do so. While gendered perceptions of singing in American culture will not change overnight, educators have the power to affect change in their own classrooms. We possess the ability to empower boys of all ages to take ownership of and pride in singing just as much as our female students naturally do. In her chapter titled “Without music I’d just be another kid: Boys and the choral experience,” Hall (2009) wonders “What enables Thomas to resist the desire to be ‘one of them’ despite the costs? Inquiring along these lines may help us to find ways to facilitate young people challenging the ‘I shouldn’t do this kind of thing’ pressures. Thomas is aware that choosing to sing is positioning himself on a symbolic level as the ‘other’” (pp. 25-26). Through interaction with and understanding of inspired students like Thomas, we can learn much about how to counteract hegemonic masculinity in singing, greatly benefiting the musical experiences of our students.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.