Posted by Rick Denney on August 31, 2002 at 16:32:25:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: H.S. Brass Bands posted by Heather on August 31, 2002 at 10:28:03:
Maybe, on the other hand, some girls want to play flute because their best friend plays flute and she wants to sit next to her. Or, maybe, she likes the sound of the flute. Or, maybe, her dad played the flute. Or, maybe, she doesn't want to haul a 25-pound tuba home for practice. Or, maybe, she went to a Galway concert when she was little. Or, maybe,...
Well, you get the idea. There are all sorts of reasons why someone might want to play a particular instrument that have nothing at all to do with stereotypes. Sometimes we try to force-fit our grown-up views of stereotypes, pro and con, on children who have reasons of their own for preferring something. So, do you test them to make sure their reasons aren't associated with stereotypes before you just let them do what they want to do? Encouraging them to buck the stereotype (a stereotype that they neither see nor care about in most cases) has the same result as encouraging them to follow the stereotype--they play an instrument they didn't really want to. That seems likely to cause more problems than it could solve.
Rick "whose niece initially wanted to play tuba like her Uncle Rick, but has ended up on bassoon because that's what ultimately captured her interest, for reasons of her own" Denney