Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site stolaf.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!security!genrad!grkermit!masscomp!clyde!floyd!whuxle!pyuxll!abnjh!u1100a!pyuxn!pyuxww!mhuxm!mhuxl!ihnp4!stolaf!twiss From: twiss@stolaf.UUCP Newsgroups: net.women Subject: New Topic - Please Read Message-ID: <1341@stolaf.UUCP> Date: Fri, 27-Jan-84 18:32:58 EST Article-I.D.: stolaf.1341 Posted: Fri Jan 27 18:32:58 1984 Date-Received: Tue, 31-Jan-84 02:31:34 EST Organization: St. Olaf College, Northfield MN Lines: 53 I think the present discussions about rape and the purpose of net.women are very important, but I would like to introduce a new topic of discussion that should prove very interesting. The other night I attended a recital in which a particular woman was playing who is not a great musician. When she was finished, a friend of mine (who is an excellent musician) turned to me and said, "Why are women such lousy musicians?" Needless to say, I got really mad. His argument was that women (most of them) don't play agressively and are too feminine. I got really mad and we've been discussing this for several days now. The way the discussion went is that my friend said that agressiveness is an important factor and that it is a male characteristic. Therefore, for a woman to be good, she must exhibit this trait. This really bothered me that women (according to him) could not be agressive and retain their femininity. I asked him if he had any feminine traits and he said he did and that he was proud opf them. For example, he said he could never play a Brahms intermezzo (very quiet, soft, and controlled) without a certain tenderness that he labeled "feminine". My question to the readers of the net is: are certain traits restricted to one sex or the other and are any of them "better" than any other (obviously I don't want to restrict this to the topic of music)? I feel that a woman can be just as good a musician as a man and that they can exhibit the necesary "agressiveness" required of any musician without losing any femininity. The thing that really bothered me was how my friend compared everything in terms of male traits. This implied a certain pecking order in which men came out on top which I thought was ridiculous. Now of course there are differences between men and women that cannot and should not be ignored. By recognizing and appreciating these differences I think we can all be more aware of ourselves. But just how far do these differences go? Do men almost always make better musicians, presidents, astronauts, atheletes, etc.? I hope not!! I told my friend that several years ago no one would have even thought about a woman president or astronaut. But now changes are being made. If he continues his views, that will simply impede the same kind of changes in the field of music and other areas. Well, netters? What do you think? Are certain traits best left to specific sexes and does or should these traits restrict people to certain roles (aside from the obvious example of parents where the differences of the sexes is almost essential and does dictate certain roles)? Let's see what people think (and hope that women don't get delegated to only some roles). For clarity's sake, let's refer to this topic as Male/Female Roles in further discussion. Tom Twiss ...!ihnp4!stolaf!twiss