Jalah Johnson

Professor Sally Griffin

Inquiry Paper
UWRT 1102-090
March 10, 2015
Why is there a Shortage of Males in Choirs and How Can Teachers Change It?
There are a lot of choirs in the world; singing different genres of music from show
tunes to classical. Choirs provide entertainment for multiple audiences and include
different kinds of people, joined together for their one common interest. There are choirs
in middle school, high school, college, choirs for the elderly, children, deaf, and disabled.
A choir can be composed of anyone with the want and or need to express themselves
musically, talent is not always required, just a passion for music. With as many different
choirs there are, there is often a thought that the ratio of gender would be an even match,
but that is almost never the case. Choirs everywhere, especially in high school, have a
shortage of male performers. In 1982 statistics showed that the ratio of boys to girls in
choral programs is 5:2. (Koza, 50) This trend stretches across other performing art
programs as well, such as dance and theatre. These clubs are often filled with mostly
females and do not have enough males to make a difference. Many choir directors deal
with the issue of getting boys to join the choir, how does one appeal to a gender that is
taught to avoid anything that could make them appear inferior in society?
Traditionally males are thought of as rational, aggressive, and athletic while
women are thought of as the direct opposites. These thoughts go back so far that they are
stereotypes that are held today. The main belief is that the reason boys do not join choirs

is because of deeply rooted sexism, homophobia, and oppression against women that has
carried on throughout history. Men are supposed to be strong, aggressive, and athletic
while women are supposedly fragile and have a need to express themselves emotionally,
through song or dance. There are a lot of different opinions on why males do not join
choirs or any type of extracurricular that does not involve sports and how to get them
involved. Most resources such as the articles Encouraging Male Participation in Chorus
and A Case Study: Middle school Boys Perception and Participation in Choir suggest
that boys need an incentive to join these programs. They insist that boys often times have
something better to do, playing video games, joining sports teams, or they just simply do
not want to join. Also implying that boys are not going to be interested in these programs
unless they have other boys around them, to go along with the traditional sense of
masculinity and what it means to be a man. There is only one resource Big Boys Dont
Cry (Or Sing) that touches on the background noise that no one seems to notice. The
obvious sexism that says performing arts is seen, as something only a girl would do
inferior to the other things boys could be doing that involve being seen as manly. Boys
not being a chorus, especially when it is something that they aspire to, can be dangerous
to their sense of expression, feeling as if they can not express themselves in the way they
want to could lead to damaging acts. For the boys who do not know whether or not it is
something they are interested in, how is it that they will find out if it is something they
may be dedicated to, if it is frowned upon for them to join? Or the case could be that boys
have their own prerogative, trying to appeal to an idea of masculinity is problematic in
itself. Suggesting that boys cannot be whoever they aspire to be holds them from their

true potential. Then there is no definitive answer for why there is a shortage of males in
choirs or how that number may grow.
In Encouraging Male Participation in Chorus from the Music Educators
Journal, the author explores his own personal experiences with joining his high schools
choir his first year, being encouraged by his father to make the leap. In the article he
mentions junior high as the time when boys choose not to continue singing because of
puberty and how that affects their already blooming insecurity (Demorest, 38).
According to Demorest singing involves taking a somewhat personal risk especially for
young boys who are easily influenced by their peers. Peer pressure is a main reason boys
overlook choir, in their eyes it does not take priority over the other things they have going
on in their life, their video games and sports. He addresses the problem that teachers have
with getting boys to join the choir Teachers and writers of choral methods books have
agonized over the missing males and have offered many strategies for recruiting and
retaining male singers(38). According to Demorest teachers should start with carefully
selected repertoire to engage males in the activity, shaping and training their voices, no
matter their ability, allowing them to participate more. However this only helps the boys
stay in once they have joined, it does not solve the problem of getting them there. Other
strategies he says focuses on appealing to the boys masculinity through stereotypes.
Teachers try and get athletes to sing to make joining choirs seem manly or masculine.
This is dangerous because it is hard to disassociate these terms with other traditional
terms relating to males such as strength, and boldness. It insinuates that before a male
joins the choir it is the opposite, weak and inferior. Demorest proposes that teachers use a
less stereotypical definition of masculine as pertaining to thing men do(Demorest 38).

He says using this definition will allow teachers to appeal to a boys identity naturally.
Giving them the opportunity to interact with other boys that are active in singing shows
them role models that no matter if they are like them or not, show an interest in singing.
In the United States there is a frequent and consistent trend to confine women and
men into their own separate categories, things men do and things women do. Male
singing is not as present in the United States as it is in certain other cultures Demorest
provides South Africa and Samoa as examples. When boys join something in this culture
they are often looking to their male friends as guidance. This means that when boys are
looking for something to join they are looking for other men to be there so that it seems
as if their peers have approved it. Give young boys opportunities to interact with other
males who sing (39). Giving them this appeals to their perception that singing is
something men do and enjoy.
The approach that Demorest focuses on is a program called A Workshop for Boy
Singers offered first in nineteen ninety two at the University of Washington. It is a
workshop that is publicized through email to elementary, middle, and high school
teachers. Teachers then bring out a certain number of boys from their choirs to the
workshop where they perfect the songs that were sent to them and perform as an
ensemble choir. The workshop relates to many other one-day chorus events with the
exception that it only involves males. It works as any other workshop does, focusing on
vocal issues and needs, but this caters specifically to boys rather than a mix of genders.
Focusing on the technical and musical issues of training the changing voice rather than
focusing on part learning (39). The boys have a chance to grow with each other and have
the opportunity of finding other male singers to look up to. The workshop appeals to the

perception that singing can be a male activity as well. Giving boys this type of program
shows them that singing doesnt have to be something that only girls do, they can
participate as well, it may increase the number of males as they see it as something that
can be enjoyed.
In the entirety of the article Demorest never gives reasons for why teachers should
have to appeal to traditional views of gender. He addresses the problem with his
suggestion that teachers should not use these views as their drive to get boys in the
chorus. However, instead of taking the problem ahead he goes around the issue, and ends
up in the same place as if he had not suggested it all. His article is against sexism and yet
still embraces it, but in a less stereotypical way. Music is not something that either boy
or girl can do and enjoy. It is indeed something that is universally loved and everyone
experiences it differently. So the question still remains, does giving boys a boy only
environment keep them interested and invested in chorus, or does the cycle start again?
Once the boys leave the workshop their confidence may have been lifted, but does this
stay consistent?
Bridget Sweet investigates the premise of these questions by observing her own
middle school choir, their motivation behind singing and participating in choir. She
includes an interview with five boys from her choir, her own observances that included a
change of teaching style, where she became stricter in her methods with a no tolerance
policy. It is interesting to have a first look into the motivations of adolescent boys and
what makes them want to continue in choir. The interview that Sweet conducts focuses on
their motivations, reasons for joining the choir, and what their friends and family think of
them singing. The common trend among the boys is that they think singing is fun and that

it provides them with an outlet for expression, a chance to take a break from their other
classes where homework is required and more intellectual thinking is involved. They
enjoy showcasing their talents, showing off for people, taking pride in their
performances. It is just as athletes are proud to show how hard they work and how that
pays off on the court or field. The boys in Sweets class seem to also be motivated by
attention from their peers, more specifically attention from females. One of her students
says, If were not good enough to make the chicks cheer, then were just not good
enough at all!(Sweet, 9). She attributes this as the reason the boys get teased by other
boys outside of the choir. With the boys pride comes the acceptance from their families
who had no idea of their musical talents until they joined the choir. However along with
that acceptance came teasing from their peers. The boys are teased for trying and showing
an actual interest in the class.
CliffIf you try, they make fun of you.
Jack: and they say that you dont sound good and that youre a teachers pet
Cornelius: Cause like, come of those people think theyre so cool. They make fun of
people whose voices havent totally dropped yet because they have to sing up higher
they say that they sound like girls or little kids, but its harder than it looks
Jack: That they sound like theyre gay.[long pause]. (10)
This shows exactly why some boys are afraid to join the choir; for fear that they may be
called names and made fun of. It appeals to the argument that there is a misogynistic or
homophobic approach to the way that people think about the performing arts. Sweet does
not approach this argument in the article however. The boys in her choir no matter the

views of their peers decide to dedicate themselves to the choir, their own pride taking
precedent over what others think.
Sweets new teaching style included a no-tolerance policy that many teachers
implement in order to raise effort and skill within the choir. She continued to include
individual singing opportunities, group work, and praise her students for their hard work
but because of my new awareness and strict changes in classroom policy, effort and skill
increased with most singers, especially my male choir members (11). The male students
needed opportunities to work with other students that had the same goals and desires as
them in the interest of singing. While Demorests research emphasizes the need for all
male interaction, Sweets observations showed that dedication, caring, and teamwork
were most important to the male students. The boys worked hardest with students who
shared similar goals and depended on one other for support, encouragement, and
understanding (11). This adds another view as to why males join choir, it is not solely
dependent on the role models they see in the program, but it appeals to their intrinsic
motivations, the need to feel proud of something. She kept their interest by appealing to
that feeling inside of them, fulfilling their want to succeed and accomplish something
Therefore their lack of interest in the choir did not directly correlate with the inability to
commit to it, but that maybe if they could not find what they were looking for there, they
would go on to something else that may fulfill that need. It is important to note however
that Sweets observation is not a generalization for all males in all choirs; she had a small
sample size there may be other underlying issues and problems for other teachers in
getting and keeping the attention of their male students. Even in Sweets article where the
boys themselves show that in spite of the ridicule they may receive they still dedicate

their time to choir and show that they are passionate about achieving their goals, the
things not explicitly said are what shine the brightest. The boys are being picked on for
their involvement in the choir, being called gay, and compared to little girls. Sweets
never addresses the argument head on, and while her article does show a different side to
what motivates boys, that doesnt relate to being something boys can do, it does not
address the real problem.
A consistent thought is that males do not join choir because they are afraid of
being seen as unmanly, singing is not something that men do. So in order to get boys to
join a teacher should appeal to the traditional ideals of what a boy does, making efforts to
pick music that is more masculine so that they may identify with it. This thought is
problematic in that it appeals to traditional forms of sexism and the perception that boys
do what boys do and girls do what girls do, there is no mixing of gender. It takes words
like masculine and manly turns them into compliments and words like sissy, girly, or
feminine then become insults, because the last thing a boy wants to do is be considered
girly, or in more recent times gay. Julia Koza writes an entire article criticizing the
assumptions and thoughts made by other writers who investigated the issue. The texts I
examined drew from and reinforced systems of ideas to perpetuate unequal power
relations and that foster the continued of women and gay men (Koza, 49). Other
researchers like Sweets and Demorest, have taken apart the reason why boys do not join
choir, dissected it, and did not deal with the overt sexism that occurs when wanting to
bring more in. Instead of tackling the problem, they seemed to cover it up, by appealing
to the ideas of masculinity and using that tactic to recruit men. American culture revolves
around traditional gender roles, and singing does not fall into the traditional thoughts of

what a man is. In a study by Perry A. Castelli he asked teachers to give the main reasons
boys leave choral programs. Most teachers said that it is because of peer pressure and
sexual identity. Also seen in Sweet and Demorests articles, boys are afraid of being
compared to females. Most research done cites these as reasons but do not discuss the
issue itself, instead choose to calm their thoughts by making it seem something that boys
do. They stress common themes between singing and masculine traits. Another way to
help boys view singing as a masculine activity is to stress the physical training required
by the psychomotor process(52). In this training they begin to associate singing with the
same training as sports that creates this sense of weak vs. strong and good vs. bad. It is
good to be strong and to work physically, bad to do the opposite and if singing is
associated with the weak and bad boys have lost interest. This is the approach most
people take. The sense of power has to be felt by the male or else it does not go towards
his goal of becoming a man, or at least what society thinks makes a man.
The thoughts that men need to feel manly in order to enjoy something are what
social feminists would call sexist. Researchers take feminine characteristics and
transform into something that it is not desirable. There is a special cater to boys because
of the shortage, they then become more coveted. Often times teachers will change their
direction of teaching, or tactics for recruitment to revolve around boys.
By catering to boys aversions, many of these solutions not only acknowledged but
reinforced discourses that construct femininity, females, and homosexual males as bad.
Thus these proposed solutions were misogynistic due to the multiple meanings of
feminine discussed earlier, homophobic (61).

Some texts, Demorest, tell teachers to avoid using feminine terms, separate the boys
from the girls. Michael Zemek researches the supports behind separating choirs by
gender, the researchers in his article excuse the separation to gender differences,
participation, and vocal development. Overall the thought is that in mixed choirs boys
will not prosper as well as the females, they need to be catered to because of their vocal
changes and identity challenges. These methods leave females behind and cater to the
male perspective. That is not to say that the female student is more important than the
male, or vice versa, but that there should be a sense of equality even in choirs that start as
young as elementary school. Researchers accepted the fact that these were problems, but
instead of dissecting the issue as a whole, they chose to reinforce the beliefs. Boys
should sing, but they still should not cry (Shouldice, 486). Boys should come and join
choir, enjoy it, be proud of it, but do not show any emotion, because that is against what
they are believed to think being a man is. It is extremely dangerous to their growth, how
are boys expected to truly express themselves if there is a fear of homophobia, sexism,
and misogyny around every corner. Perhaps instead of feeding into this, teachers should
cater to all their students and show no bias to how they treat the males and females.
Instead enforcing that singing is something to be enjoyed and loved by anyone who has
the passion to do so.
There is so much research behind why boys do not join choirs, and how to get
them there. However, there are also so many contradictions between researchers. Appeal
to a boys idea of masculinity, separate them from girls, in order to prevent them from
feeling feminine. There does not appear to be one simple reason or solution, it is
something that continues to be a problem today. The shortage of males in choirs has been

an issue in specifically the United States for as long as gender roles have been
established. The answer is not as simple as showing boys that other men do it, giving
them someone to lookup to. Perhaps the problem starts with America itself, maybe there
should be a more dramatic jump from traditional beliefs, to the idea that boys can do
anything and be whoever they want to be, and the same for girls. Boys should not have to
be confined into boy only choirs, to have a desire to stay or join choir. They should
however be able to decide for themselves what they want to do, with no encouragement
from peers or family. It is time that boys recognize that they are allowed to join what they
want without the fear of being teased for their choices.

Demorest, Steven. Encouraging Male Participation in Chorus. Music Journal.

86.4(2000): 38-41. Web.

Giebelhausen, Robin, Kruse, Adam, Ramsey, Andrea, and Shouldice, Heather. Male and
Female Photographic Representation in 50 Years. Journal of Research in Music
Education. 62.4(2015): 485-500. Web.

Koza Eklund Julia. "Big Boys Dont Cry (Or Sing): Gender, Misogyny, and Homophobia
in College Choral Methods Texts." Journal of Music Teaching and Learning.
4.1(1994): 48-64. Print.

Sweet, Bridget. A Case Study: Middle School Boys Perceptions of Singing and
Participation in Choir. Applications of Research in Music Education. 28.2(2010):
5-12. Print.