Dear Monica, I don't think it is sad at all. We all have the opportunity to contribute to this list, whether we are men or women. The choice is ours. If there happen to be more men than women in Peter Martin's sample, so be it. That's the way it is.
You could as well do a survey, as I did some years ago, to see how many contributors to the list had beards. Of those who responded, 70% had beards, and none of them was a woman. Donatella Galetti was the only female lute-netter to respond to the survey, and she confirmed that she didn't have a beard. (See the archives for 19th December 2004.) There have always been women who play the lute, at least as long as lutes were around. I have in mind those sideways-on pictures of women plucking lute-like instruments in ancient Egyptian pictures. You have only to look at a few old paintings from renaissance times to see a multitude of female lutenists, including our good Queen Elizabeth. As far as sources are concerned, we have the Jane Pickeringe lute book, the Margaret Board lute book, and the M (probably for Margaret) L lute book. A little later we have Mary Burwell's lute book and Lady Wemyss' book. There is the Thynne lute book, and one of the family members who used it was a young lady to be seen in a painting holding her lute. Some important patrons of music were women, including Isabella d'Este and Margaret of Austria in the early part of the 16th century. Even in times when women were treated very differently from men, music was a pursuit where women could flourish. So strongly was music seen to be associated with women, that macho Tobias Hume felt it necessary to confess that music was the only effeminate part of him. The situation is no different today. I think of Paula Chateauneuf, Lynda Sayce, Elizabeth Kenny, and many other women, who play the lute extremely well, and there are plenty of women who are fine musicologists too. It is a nonsense to say that the lute is a man's world, as if there were some latent prejudice we need to feel guilty about. We have enough barmy political correctness imposed upon us in other walks of life. May we be preserved from it here. Best wishes, Stewart McCoy. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Monica Hall Sent: 10 September 2009 13:17 To: David Tayler Cc: Lutelist Subject: [LUTE] Re: Imbalance It is indeed a sad story. I suspect this is also the case in the classical guitar world which may have a knock on effect. It's still a man's world. Monica ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Tayler" <[email protected]> To: "lute-cs.dartmouth.edu" <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 9:06 AM Subject: [LUTE] Re: Imbalance > It is a sad story. > d > > > At 12:54 AM 9/10/2009, you wrote: >> Of the last 100 individuals to post to this list, 95 were men. Is >> this >> representative of the wider lute world? Any ideas why? >> >> Peter >> >> -- >> >> >>To get on or off this list see list information at >>http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > >
