Editing Taiko (section)

===Gender conventions===
Taiko performance has frequently been viewed as an art form dominated by men.<ref>{{bulleted list|{{cite magazine|title=Hono Taiko|magazine=The New Yorker|date=11 October 1999|page=17|publisher=F-R Publishing Corporation}}|{{cite news|last=Lin|first=Angel|title=Taiko Drummers Celebrate Heritage|url=http://www.oberlin.edu/stupub/ocreview/2007/04/20/arts/Taiko_Drummers_Celebrate_H.html|access-date=5 January 2014|newspaper=The Oberlin Review|date=20 April 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513151253/http://www.oberlin.edu/stupub/ocreview/2007/04/20/arts/Taiko_Drummers_Celebrate_H.html|archive-date=13 May 2013}}}}</ref>{{sfn|Bender|2012|p=144}} Historians of taiko argue that its performance comes from masculine traditions. Those who developed ensemble-style taiko in Japan were men,{{sfn|Bender|2012|p=144}} and through the influence of Ondekoza, the ideal taiko player was epitomized in images of the masculine peasant class,{{sfn|Bender|2012|p=144}} particularly through the character Muhōmatsu in the 1958 film ''[[Rickshaw Man]]''.{{sfn|Konagaya|2005|p=150}}{{sfn|Bender|2012|p=144}} Masculine roots have also been attributed to perceived capacity for "spectacular bodily performance"{{sfn|Konagaya|2007|p=2}} where women's bodies are sometimes judged as unable to meet the physical demands of playing.{{sfn|Bender|2012|p=145}}
[[File:Taiko drummers near the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, Paris, France.jpg|thumb|Starting in the 1990s, there have been a greater or equal number of female performers in ''kumi-daiko'' compared to male performers.|alt=A photograph of four women in a kumi-daiko group performing in Paris, France.]]
Before the 1980s, it was uncommon for Japanese women to perform on traditional instruments, including taiko, as their participation had been systematically restricted; an exception was the San Francisco Taiko Dojo under the guidance of Grandmaster Seiichi Tanaka, who was the first to admit women to the art form.{{sfn|Bender|2012|p=144}} In Ondekoza and in the early performances of Kodo, women performed only dance routines either during or between taiko performances.{{sfn|Bender|2012|p=155}} Thereafter, female participation in ''kumi-daiko'' started to rise dramatically, and by the 1990s, women equaled and possibly exceeded representation by men.{{sfn|Bender|2012|p=144}} While the proportion of women in taiko has become substantial, some have expressed concern that women still do not perform in the same roles as their male counterparts and that taiko performance continues to be a male-dominated profession.{{sfn|Bender|2012|p=145}} For instance, a member of Kodo was informed by the director of the group's apprentice program that women were permitted to play, but could only play "as women".{{sfn|Bender|2012|p=153}} Other women in the apprentice program recognized a gender disparity in performance roles, such as what pieces they were allowed to perform, or in physical terms based on a male standard.{{sfn|Bender|2012|pp=154–155}}

Female taiko performance has also served as a response to gendered stereotypes of Japanese women as being quiet,{{sfn|Izumi|2001|pp=37–39}} subservient, or a [[femme fatale]].<ref name=Chan>{{cite news|last=Chan|first=Erin|title=They're Beating the Drum for Female Empowerment|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jul-15-me-taiko15-story.html|access-date=5 January 2014|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=15 July 2002|url-status=live|archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20140105193428/http://articles.latimes.com/2002/jul/15/local/me-taiko15|archive-date=5 January 2014}}</ref> Through performance, some groups believe they are helping to redefine not only the role of women in taiko, but how women are perceived more generally.<ref name="Chan" />{{sfn|Wong|2000|p=74}}