She subscribes to the flute = gay theory too. My stock reply is “you could do worse than have a gay dad” : ) I’m not gay & don’t care who is or isn’t, but that generally shuts her up.
I’ve been playing since I’m 4…and I play baseball and ice hockey, and curse like a sailor.
Yes, I can see the gay connection (or at least feminine). LOL
Let her know that Michael Flatley, Lord of the Pants…er…Dance…and a world-class All-Ireland flute player…very un-gay…
was a Golden Gloves boxing champ in Chicago.
Best of luck Henke. I think it can be done. Not with words, but deeds. When we play, we need to really lean into it, really growl out the reels, stomping out the beat so the whiskey jumps in the glass on the table, or the pints wobble a little. Heavy boots will help here. And don’t swab out the flute until you’ve got a spot on your leg good and soaked. Then look around the pub with that “Aqualung” sort of stare when you finish.
Hum. I think this perception may be an American thing! I’ve never been aware of any such this side o’ the pond. Sure, in school flutes are seen as girlie, but then, so are clarinets, oboes, violins, pianos… being musical generally (except for guitar/rock, obviously), or into any kind of dance, etc. etc., or indeed being willing to do anything positive/creative. But not “gay”. That said, whilst the majority who actively engage as youngsters are girls, there is and has always been a healthy enough (if under-representative) contingent of male activity. And I don’t think such gender-bias perceptions extend much into adulthood. You only have to look at pictures of orchestras and brass bands etc. to see this. I’ve never knowingly been looked at in the way Nano describes…though being dense about such social signals from either gender, I may have missed it!
As for Mr Flatley, although he is well known to be hetero, it is hard to imagine being more camp than he is! Liberace spangles etc.!!! And, as I said, being a dancer of any kind is far more likely to be seen as a signal of effeminacy and possible homosexuality over here than is playing any instrument.
‘I think this perception must be an American thing’ - Jemthe flute
Well perhaps…but also aren’t all of us limey’s basically a bunch of f…?(won’t use that word on here ever again)
For the first ( and definitly last time ) recently I mentioned to someone on an oilrig camp that I played the flute. I had to endure an endless stream of comments about blowing a different kind of flute, unfamiliar to me, that is apparently made from some type of skin.
Nate
Wow, now that you mention it, a whole bunch of old repressed memories comes back to me.. Meat flute (I’m truly sorry I said that), is what it was called, and that’s a direct translation from Swedish. Man, I got to hear that more than one time, luckily we had an accordionist I could take a piss on when it got too bad.
Now, nothing more to see here (I am sorry), have another dram of
whisky
oh dear… the strange stereotypes people get in their heads.
My partner (an ex-biker) toured the country playing flute and hand drums as a professional musician, I don’t think anyone was ever brave enough to tease him for it… at least not if they liked the way their face was currently arranged.
The other side is equally curious, with so many traditional (and otherwise) cultures banning women from playing flutes (or drums, in many cases).
Another strange thing I heard in high school orchestra (the bad old days) was that our body shapes should resemble our natural instrument. So you know, only the skinny, willowy girls and long limbed boys should be playing the flute.
And, as I said, being a dancer of any kind is far more likely to be seen as a signal of effeminacy and possible homosexuality over here than is playing any instrument.
