Hit like a girl

AZslim

Senior Member
All,

A little rant.

I noticed that the Drum Channel had a 'Hit like a girl' contest for female drummers.

Why should women/girls have their own category? I see no earthly reason why women can't play the drums just well as men.

I think this just reinforces an untrue stereotype.

Rant off.
 
Agree 100%...

They must think Cindy Blackman (Santana) has no skills. She's a monster regardless of gender!!

The one that kills me is the perception that a female (on any instrument) has to play MUCH better than a male just to get the bs: "She plays good for a girl." I almost punched out a trumpet player I was playing a show with when he said that about the bass player. She was just a great player. Period!!
 
While I do appreciate the effort to bring more females into the spotlight (as the current sex distribution is pretty skewed) I think they've perhaps gone too far on the empowerment<->noveltization spectrum.
 
I agree, women can be just as good as men, I don't think they're trying to suggest anything else. I notice that female drummers tend to identify with famous or celebrated female drummers so you can see an event like this attracting more women to the drum scene. I imagine that being a good thing.
 
While I'm not a woman myself, there are many reasons why some women like female-only competitions, and I'm not talking strictly about only drumming here. A major reason is that in co-ed competitions, there is often some favouritism displayed by judges, either for or against female competitors, and they would much rather compete in an environment where they know that winning is going to be based purely on skill rather than either a) a judge dismissing a person based on their gender or b) a judge trying to do a "favour" to someone based on their gender.
 
I think this just reinforces an untrue stereotype.

Rant off.
Even the title implies a wimpish expectation & reinforces a testosterone supremacy kinda deal. It's BS, & should be scrapped.

Of course, it's good for all players to have avenues for exposure, but not at the expense of belittling a section of the playing community. Maybe the original intention was to give greater exposure to female players in the belief that they were under represented. I get that, but the flip side is it draws attention to the gross prejudice that's out there. I say downside massively outweighs any potential benefit.
 
Simply because there are fewer female drummer and the prevalent opinion would be that they aren't as good as men, so we will set up a seperate competition. Same as pool or billiards. There is no reason why women can't be in the same competition as men. Bowling is close. Men throw harder than women but speed of the ball only plays a small part in the scoring. The title also to me implies that men hit harder and that is necessary to be a proficient drummer.
 
As long as the women competing don't have a problem with it, I don't see anything wrong with it. OK it could have been named differently. I think some women might find it refreshing that there are no males to "complicate" things. I mean they have women's tennis right? Women's basketball, women's softball.... Same thing isn't it?

The negative connotations could be shedded (hit like a girl) but overall I don't see any issues with it, as long as the competitors are good with it.

I wonder if it is judged by men, women, or both.
 
I think Dave Weckl should go all Mrs. Doubtfire on their asses.
 
I'm not massively in favour of all-female competition. Can you imagine the fuss I'd make if the competition was male-only? There is some balance to redress, I concede, but I'm not absolutely convinced that this is the right way to go about it. Each individual has a responsibility to behave in a non-biased way, and to challenge attitudes that are plain wrong, to the point where such attitudes are considered by the majority to be unacceptable and shocking.

And the title of the competition makes me cringe. I objected just the other day to somebody's use of the word "girly" in a clearly pejorative sense. Girls play Barbie; women play drums!
 
Careful guys.I mentioned that I thought there was no reason for this female gender only competition because women can play as well as men, and it didnt go down too well. Still not sure why.
Perhaps for some people you have to demonstrate positive discrimination before they believe you do not discriminate? I dont know.
 
As long as the women competing don't have a problem with it, I don't see anything wrong with it. OK it could have been named differently. I think some women might find it refreshing that there are no males to "complicate" things. I mean they have women's tennis right? Women's basketball, women's softball.... Same thing isn't it?

The negative connotations can be shedded (hit like a girl) but overall I don't see any issues with it.

I wonder if it is judged by men, women, or both.
I'm kind of with you Larry, but the other disciplines you refer to are segregated on the basis of physical differences between the sexes. I don't perceive any advantage/disadvantage whatsoever in playing of musical instruments.

I do appreciate the angle of competing without gender being a consideration though, but I still don't believe that justifies the segregation, as that's rarely representative of the competition of the real world.

As an absolute minimum, the inference of the tile is demeaning & should be changed.
 
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I've got to say, the 'Hit Like a Girl' contest has become rather tiresome around here. Last year, we had a lot of one-post wonders promoting their videos. This year, we haven't had quite the same volume but that may change. I find it a little frustrating because most of the people entering the contest that promote their videos here have a lot to offer in terms of their playing.

Larry, I'm going to disagree here. A segregated competition is not appropriate for music because music is not a measure of athletic prowess. Although many female tennis players can compete well with the male tennis players, at the top level men have an athletic advantage. The same is true of sprinting, Rugby and in some instances, Cricket (mainly in fast bowling). There has been a debate over here though in Cricket whether or not a female cricket player by the name of Sarah Taylor should play for a high-level men's team - she demonstrated that she was more than capable and last year and did so, although she wasn't available to turn out for the next step up because of international duty. I'm absolutely in favour f somebody being able to play wherever they like, provided they have the skill and merit to do so.

I'm all for breaking down those segregated sports when it's appropriate to do so. I wouldn't want to see mixed Rugby - that could be absolutely bloodthirsty - but mixed snooker, darts, cricket (with the fast bowling caveat), sure. Why not?

You also have to remember that in the Classical world, orchestras has large numbers of female players. Quite simply, I see no reason to believe that any man is inherently any better than a girl at any instrument. So segregating any competitions is - in my view - a waste of time.

If the people entering the contest are happy then I suppose it doesn't matter what I think but my view on this is strong.
 
I think the name of the contest says a lot. It is clearly meant to be tongue-in-cheek, with the implication that women can hit just fine, thank you. It's turning the insult into a positive.
 
Caddy told me that Larry hits like a girl.... Maybe he can join in the contest?
 
I think the name of the contest says a lot. It is clearly meant to be tongue-in-cheek, with the implication that women can hit just fine, thank you. It's turning the insult into a positive.
+1

Also, I think the athletic aspect/difference plays some role. Due to their physique, male drummers have an easier time hitting higher speed, creating more punch etc. So this advantage would be eliminated in a 'girl' contest.
 
cricket (with the fast bowling caveat), sure. Why not?

Side issue, but if you've got to start changing the rules, then doesn't it defeat the purpose?


As for the comp. Fair play to them. If the girls lining up for it have no issue, then I sure as hell don't either. There's a ton of injustices in this world that make my blood boil. "Hitting like a girl" is just not even on my radar......less so given the participants actively embrace the concept. The hit and run posters get a bit tiresome though. It'd be nice if they stuck around and got involved.
 
I see no earthly reason why women can't play the drums just well as men

I agree 100%.

But, so far, we've not seen as many women involved. While I am sure there have been a few, I've never seen a female in the GC drum off finales.I don't recall a woman ever being declared the winner.

So, I have no problem with the contest. Anything that encourages more people to take an interest in the drums is good by me.
 
Side issue, but if you've got to start changing the rules, then doesn't it defeat the purpose?

No no. My point about Sarah Taylor is that they didn't change the rules. They were worried that she wouldn't be equipped to deal with fast bowling (female fast bowlers are generally what the male game would call medium-pace) but she has demonstrated she is equipped to deal with it. They didn't have to change the rules.

If somebody can play the game with the current rules, I see no issue. Sarah Taylor can.
 
Caddy told me that Larry hits like a girl.... Maybe he can join in the contest?


Ooooo that Caddy....razafrasafrasaraza....why next time I see him.....Ooooh he makes my blood boil. Do you hear me Wumpus?

Thanks for the heads up Watso. At least I know who my REAL friends are.


:)
 
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