Conductors Joe DiMella

     Female Conductors like our bright and girl boss Yufen who was brought in to educate us, especially in this case that conductors are mostly a male dominant field of work is a sight to see. I envision and imagine it as a girl taking on a coaching job on a male dominant sports team. I have seen this a couple of times and every time I see it gets me to think to myself, is she liked? Is she good at her job? And do people respect her? My mind wondered to this because it is out of the norms of a typical male and female lifestyle, and what job they should or are supposed to have. My question isn't prejudiced towards the female sex, but it is rather a justified theory on how the situation came to be and if a female conductor hones in a lot of skills.

Conductors having many planned activities and schedules yet again reminds me of a sports coach, they put their lives on the line in this one category, and they methodically plan out what's the best way to go about handling business. Not only do they do that, they also have to take charge of conducting their field of music. Since they're taking charge and command, it really opens my eyes up in the sense that they take on the Alpha responsibility, such as picking who is the right person for the job, or whether someone is playing their role to perfection or not. Typically a male would try to be the alpha, but Yufen is a female alpha and juggles the reputation and animosity of others by looking like a villain in a way. I choose the word villain because she definitely gains a lot of attention and feelings her way as she navigates a male-dominated field of work while striving to do the best she possibly can to secure her wanted and competitive job.

Being a conductor I've learned requires these sets of direction; they assume historical gender roles and traditions, institutional barriers and gatekeeping, lack of role models and mentorship opportunities, biases in perception and expectation, and limited early career opportunities. With all of these criteria I see attaining a conductor role is like being once again a sports coach, but also mixed in with a teacher's role. They have to be direct and able to adapt, also mentioning a compassionate component while they choose this competitive career path. Statistically, Out of 100 people, only 11 of them are female. To put that into a simple human mind, imagine trying to get admitted into a prestigious school in this modern-day society. It's like getting denied by every single school you want to get into, but the competition is just as good or if not better no matter how well your grades, test scores, and other things go for you.

Yufen said her hand gesture compared to a male is being judged like the odds are betting against her. When she does a sensitive hand gesture just like a male, the female will be put down and disregarded,  and the male will be given a round of applause. I put this activity of hand gestures to be compared to that of a basketball shot.  When a female hits a 3-pointer it is looked at as rubbish, but when a male hits a 3-pointer it is celebrated just because their sexes are different. 

One piece of a progressive male and gender situation is from conductor Marin Alsop, while conducting during a show, she was doing very well at her expertise. However, a question arose from a high-up audience watcher. The person watching spoke, “Is the conductor female or male.” This one piece of information shows that a female can coexist in a “male's field of work” and strive in a field that is dominated by the other sex while less is favoring your side. Both Males and Females have the great characteristics to excel. However, gender isn't what makes the conductor, it's the skill and mindset iv'e learned.