Editing Ethnomusicology (section)

=== Gender ===
Later researchers criticize historical ethnomusicology for gender-bias and [[androcentric]] models that distorted reality. Early research often focused on male musicians, in line with the greater attention paid to men in most domains at the time. This implicitly relied on the presumption that male musical practices were reflective of music of the whole society. In some societies, women were not allowed/encouraged to perform in public, reducing their participation in music and making it tougher for researchers to find female musicians.<ref name=Nettl2005/>{{rp|410}} Further, men initially dominated fieldwork and related institutions and tended to prioritize the experiences of men. Koskoff claimed that this bias complicates understanding the musical culture of a society.<ref name="Koskoff1987">{{Cite book |last=Koskoff |first=Ellen |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=LVaT02NNw7oC}} |title=Women and Music in Cross-cultural Perspective |date=1987 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-06057-1 |language=en |chapter=An Introduction to Women, Music, and Culture}}</ref>{{rp|1}}

Women contributed to ethnomusicological fieldwork from the 1950s onward, but women's and gender studies in ethnomusicology took off in the 1970s as it did in other domains. Koskoff articulated three stages in women's studies within ethnomusicology:<ref name="Nettl2005" />{{rp|409}} 

* filling the gaps in the knowledge of women's contributions;
* discussing the relationships between women and men as expressed through music; 
* integrating the study of sexuality, performance, semiotics, and other forms of meaning-making.

In the 1990s, ethnomusicologists began to consider fieldworker identity, including [[gender]] and [[sexuality]]. Feminist ethnomusicology emerged in the late 1980s (driven by [[Third-wave feminism|third wave feminism]]), as women began conducting fieldwork instead of interpreting works recorded by men.<ref name="Koskoff1987" />{{rp|2}}

Koskoff claimed that gender is a useful lens for viewing the musical practices of a society. She claimed parallels between the sexual binary and others such as private/public, feeling/action, and sacred/profane.<ref name="Koskoff1987" />{{rp|8}} In some cultures, women's music is not viewed as music. Treatment of music thus can support or subvert gender roles. Koskoff further claimed that musical instruments' shapes and playing motions reflect gender roles.<ref name="Koskoff1987" />{{rp|9}} Koskoff also claimed that female musical behavior is affiliated with heightened sexuality, and that different cultures hold similar criteria of eroticized dance movements (e.g. "among the Swahili...all-female gathering where learn the 'right' sexual movements).<ref name="Koskoff1987" />{{rp|8}}<!-- citing only a single culture doesn't support the claim --> Koskoff claimed that in certain cultures, public female musical performance is linked to female sexuality and to implied or actual [[prostitution]] that is not typically part of private performance.<ref name="Koskoff1987" />{{rp|4}} 

She claimed that public music performance by single women of child-bearing age was typically associated with sexuality,<ref name="Koskoff1987" />{{rp|3-4}} while that of older/married women downplayed or even denied their sexuality.<ref name="Koskoff1987" />{{rp|7}} This reflects the traditional view that a woman's sexuality decreases with age/marriage. 

In cultures that hinder women's public performance, women-centric performance spaces may offer women a way to express female identity outside the age/marriage sexuality binary.<ref name="Koskoff1987" />{{rp|9}} In some cultures, women have encoded symbolic behavior and language into their performances to protest an unwanted marriage, mock a suitor, or express homosexuality that is not apparent to men in the audience.<ref name="Koskoff1987" />{{rp|11}} As such, music performance may maintain, protest, or challenge gender norms.<ref name="Koskoff1987" />{{rp|10}} Koskoff claimed that women who become popular in mainstream culture may take on masculine-coded qualities, even their expression of femininity initially helped them.<ref name="Koskoff1987" />{{rp|12}}

Doubleday claimed that men may attempt to dominate their instruments, while women do not.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=12}}<!-- what does dominate mean in this context? --> If a female's allure is more important for her success than her music, the latter may not sustain her. Doubleday defines "suitable" instruments for women as those that require no physical exertions<!-- eg..... --> which do not disrupt the graceful stereotype of a woman.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Doubleday |first=Veronica |date=June 2008 |title=Sounds of Power: An Overview of Musical Instruments and Gender |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/17411910801972909 |journal=Ethnomusicology Forum |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=3–39 |doi=10.1080/17411910801972909 |issn=1741-1912}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=21-22}}

Schreffler described the role of [[Punjabis|Punjabi]] women in music in the context of migration. Women are often the bearers of tradition in Punjabi culture, performing in many traditional Punjabi rituals, including musical rituals, which help enable emigrants to connect with Punjabi culture wherever they may be.<ref>Schreffler, Gibb. 2012. "Migration Shaping Media: Punjabi Popular Music in a Global Historical Perspective." ''Popular Music and Society'' 35(3): 336.</ref> Schreffler claimed that as a result of migration, [[Bhangra (music)|bhangra music]] allowed women to mingle with men in non-traditional ways.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schreffler |first=Gibb |date=July 2012 |title=Migration Shaping Media: Punjabi Popular Music in a Global Historical Perspective |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/03007766.2011.600516 |journal=Popular Music and Society |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=333–358 |doi=10.1080/03007766.2011.600516 |issn=0300-7766}}</ref>

Similarly, a 2026 study of gender dynamics within [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]] culture documented how partnership [[Minyan|minyanim]] dance reinterpreted Orthodox Jewish [[religious law]] to establish a new context for women's performance,<ref name="jstor.org">{{Cite journal |last=Dale |first=Gordon |date=2015 |title=Music and the Negotiation of Orthodox Jewish Gender Roles in Partnership "Minyanim" |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/43548401 |journal=Contemporary Jewry |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=35–53 |issn=0147-1694}}</ref> escaping the tradition of excluding women from religious music for reasons of  female modesty.<ref name="Dale, Gordon 2015, p. 48">Dale, Gordon. "Music and the Negotiation of Orthodox Jewish Gender Roles in Partnership 'Minyanim.'" ''Contemporary Jewry'', vol. 35, no. 1, 2015, p. 48. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43548401. Accessed 2020-11-24.</ref> and across cultures.<ref name="jstor.org" /> Orthodox men insisted that it was impossible for a man to hear a woman singing without experiencing it as a sexual provocation, while male partnership minyan participants concluded instead that considerations of modesty were not applicable in the context of their prayer.<ref name="Dale, Gordon 2015, p. 49">Dale, Gordon. "Music and the Negotiation of Orthodox Jewish Gender Roles in Partnership 'Minyanim.'" ''Contemporary Jewry'', vol. 35, no. 1, 2015, p. 49. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43548401. Accessed 2020-11-24.</ref> Therefore, a woman's singing could be considered an act of rebellion against Orthodox power structures.<ref name="Dale, Gordon 2015, p. 48" /> Dale stated that women's music initiatives such as Indonesian women chanting from the [[Qur'an]], requires Orthodoxy to create a new religious space in which men and women can express themselves.<ref name="Dale, Gordon 2015, p. 49" /> While restrictions on female roles in worship mean that minyanim must focus more on partnership than equality, partnership minyanim can forge a prayer space that encourages women's voices.<ref name="Dale, Gordon 2015, p. 49" /> He described one interaction with an older woman who was uncomfortable leading religious worship, but appreciated observing other women in that role. Singing alongside women in an unrestrained manner was a comfortable and fulfilling way for her to practice feminism.<ref>Dale, Gordon. "Music and the Negotiation of Orthodox Jewish Gender Roles in Partnership 'Minyanim.'" ''Contemporary Jewry'', vol. 35, no. 1, 2015, pp. 47-8. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43548401. Accessed 2020-11-24.</ref>

Efforts to document and preserve women's contributions to ethnomusicology have increased, including collecting ethnomusicological works and  related literature that address gender inequities within musical performance and musical analysis.<ref>Bowers, Jane, and Urban Bareis. "Bibliography on Music and Gender - Women in Music." The World of Music, vol. 33, no. 2, 1991, pp. 65–103. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43561305.</ref> 

In reflexive ethnography, researchers critically consider how their identity may impact their work and the societies and people they study. For example, [[Katherine Hagedorn|Hagedorn]]  described how her race, gender, and home culture afforded her luxuries out of reach of her Cuban counterparts in her research on ''[[santeria]]''. Her identity put her in an "outsider" position with respect to Cuban culture. Unlike her Cuban female counterparts who faced stigma, she was allowed to play the [[Batá drum|''bata'' drum]] and thus advance her research.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Hagedorn |first=Katherine J. |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=kgVPEAAAQBAJ}} |title=Divine Utterances: The Performance of Afro-Cuban Santeria |date=2001-08-17 |publisher=Smithsonian |isbn=978-1-56098-947-9 |language=en}}</ref>

The Gender and Sexualities Taskforce within the society for ethnomusicology works to increase the presence and stature of gender/sexuality/[[LGBTQ]]/feminist scholarship.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Gender and Sexualities Taskforce - Society for Ethnomusicology |url=https://www.ethnomusicology.org/page/Groups_SectionsGST |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240526003730/https://www.ethnomusicology.org/page/Groups_SectionsGST |archive-date=2024-05-26 |access-date=2025-05-16 |website=www.ethnomusicology.org |language=en}}</ref> The Society of Ethnomusicology awards the Marcia Herndon Prize<ref>[http://www.music-research-inst.org/html/main/herndon.htm Marcia Herndon] Prize (Gender and Sexualities Section) - Society for Ethnomusicology, https://www.ethnomusicology.org/page/Prizes_Herndon.</ref> honoring exceptional ethnomusicological work in gender and sexuality including works that focus upon lesbian, gay, bisexual, two-spirited, homosexual, transgendered and multiple gender issues and communities, as well as to commemorate Herndon's contributions in promoting<ref>{{Cite book |last=Herndon |first=Marcia |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=ysQXAQAAIAAJ}} |title=Music, Gender, and Culture |last2=Ziegler |first2=Susanne |date=1990 |publisher=F. Noetzel |isbn=978-3-7959-0593-4 |language=en}}</ref> works by women that compare the philosophies and behaviors of male and female ethnomusicologists and musicians,<ref>{{Cite web |title=ICTMD Study Group on Gender and Sexuality {{!}} International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance |url=http://ictmusic.org/studygroup/gender |access-date=2025-05-16 |website=ictmusic.org}}</ref> along dimensions of spirituality, female empowerment, and culturally-defined gender-related duties.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Giglio |first=Virginia |date=1993 |title=Review of Music, Gender, and Culture |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/852250 |journal=Ethnomusicology |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=115–117 |doi=10.2307/852250 |issn=0014-1836}}</ref>