Why no women?

JobyMF · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 2:22 pm Post subject:

(insert kitchen jokes here)

I dont think women have the natural desire to make the best thing in history like men do.

Im sure they can offer their own delicate touch to building/repairing/modding a horn, heck, maybe even the shiniest or bedazzled-est horn out there, but women seem to have different interests....
This is a general idea, there are always exceptions ...

jblo · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 2:34 pm Post subject:

The leadpipe maker at Blackburn is a woman. Her name escapes me at the moment, but she posts here.
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mbradd · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 2:52 pm Post subject:

jejensen · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 3:00 pm Post subject:

Crazy Finn · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 3:09 pm Post subject:

AJCarter · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 3:10 pm Post subject:

JobyMF · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 4:02 pm Post subject: Re: Why no women?

[quote

These are all men. I'm a man, myself, so no issues there... but how come no women? Are there any female techs people are aware of?

Tom[/quote]

Yes I am joking about the bedazzling and shiny things.
I dont know ANY female techs, though.
I know ladies who work in the music field, VERY fine musicians, dont get me wrong, but I really dont know any techs that are female.

Like I said, I am sure (read:certain) that there are exceptions, but none that I MYSELF am aware of, especially heavy hitters like Byron Autrey, Monette, Becker, Green, Del Quadro, Becker, Melk, Oberloh.

Im sure the ladies in the field do excellent work. Gretchen at Monette is all about I know, but I am pretty sure shes not a tech.

Mark Curry · Heavyweight Member Joined: 15 Feb 2007 Posts: 1045

James Becker · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 8:35 am Post subject:

My co-worker Jim Engele remembers a number of women from Elkhorn, WI worthy of honerable mention.

Ann Bellows, now a retired lacquerer from the Holton factory and Badger State Repair who finished brass for close to 40 years! (Her husband Bill worked for Holton most of his life assembling brasswinds)

In addition to Ann there is a woman who's name Jim can't recall that did most of the brazing in the Holton plant.

Let's not forget the talants of Sherry Huntely of Artistic Engraving in Elkhart, IN.

And I'm sure there are others that work in the factories of Elkhorn, Elkhart and Eastlake.
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GordonH · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 9:18 am Post subject:

I saw some photos of the Blessing factory on Facebook that had women making things so they are out there. I used to work with a woman trombonist who ran an instrument repair business too. There are a few, but I think fewer women have a general interest in engineering. You could equally ask why there are so few women trumpet players. I know of two in my city and one just outside. Of course there are 100+ women cornet players in the same area, but not trumpet players.

LittleRusty · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 9:24 am Post subject:

I think a lot of it is cultural bias. The mix of men and women in different disciplines is changing all the time.

It seems like most of the repair techs that have a good rep have been working for years and started back when the cultural bias was stronger.

Edit: maybe I should have said "historical cultural norms" instead of "bias"

delano · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 10:43 am Post subject:

My rep in Holland did employ a woman. But she didn'f fix the brass, she did the flutes, hobo's and saxophones.

jiarby · Heavyweight Member Joined: 08 Jul 2011 Posts: 740

I went to college (UNT) 20 years ago with a woman that was a trumpet player and a brass repair tech... Ann MacMillan

I thing she works for the college now, not in a retail shop.

JWG · Regular Member Joined: 27 Jul 2011 Posts: 56

Aside from historical gender role models, as a general rule, whether you inherit an X or Y chromosome from your father causes different symmetries to develop in your brain.

If you inherit a Y chromosome, you generally have better spatial skills. If you inherit an X chromosome you generally have better social and multitasking skills.

As repairing mechanical devices generally requires high spatial skills, more men tend to do that kind of repair work as they generally have a genetic predisposition to do that work well.

However, I would be lost at my small office of 10 persons without the 7 women I have hired due to their ability to multi-task, deal with people, and still get things done. We once hired a male with very good social skills to try to run our front desk, but his poor multitasking skills made him unable to do the job no matter how hard he tried. When I do my staff's jobs, I get less done than they do; so, hats off to those women! However, only a couple of them come close to having the spatial skills that would allow them to deal with all the complex, technical, and abstract tasks with which I normally deal.

It seems a waste to even ask why do more women not do x, y, or z job. At the end of the day, no one should care if all jobs are "gender neutral," because you cannot make all jobs equally appealing and/or equally executable for both genders (e.g., jobs requiring physical strength will usually go to men based on their higher testosterone levels making it easier for them to build and maintain muscle mass).

Conversely, what we all should care about is whether there exists discrimination in unfairly choosing people for jobs based solely on their gender rather than on their individual abilities.

RandyTX · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 1:36 pm Post subject:

Why does it have to be some nefarious bias or discrimination theory?

Isn't it at least possible that the bulk of women simply aren't interested in such a job? Perhaps they just don't want to be around trumpet players all the time.

Ed Hernandez · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 1:51 pm Post subject:

"Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" theory perhaps?
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markp · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 2:07 pm Post subject:

Girls don't like to get greasy and dirty and spend all day in a dreary shop?

That description fits my wife, daughter, and 99% of all the females I know.

The one-percent exception is my friend Lisa, who invented and markets the Blow Dry Brass system.

When my horn is messed up, I take it to her. She has it apart in minutes and is diagnosing the problem while I sip my water and look on nervously.

mbradd · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 3:07 pm Post subject:

shofarguy · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 3:48 pm Post subject:

"Hone-e-y! My horn is bent. I need someone to straighten it out. I'm heading down to the store to have Tiffany do the job on it for me. It shouldn't cost much. See you in about 2 hours. Love you!"

Yeah, I can see how THAT would work.

Brino
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