Invitation: “Empowering Through Rhythm: The Impositions of Women’s Bodies and the Drum Kit”, 14.10.21

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The Center for Gender and Diversity Research and the University of Tübingen’s alumni relations team are very happy to invite you to the next session of the seminar series “Bodies, Power, Norms”. Beatriz Medeiros (Universidade Federal Fluminense Brazil, University of Tübingen) will be introducing “Empowering Through Rhythm: The Impositions of Women’s Bodies and the Drum Kit”.

The session will be taking place virtually over zoom Thursday, 14 October 2021, 6.00 – 8.00 p.m. CEST. To attend, please send an email to alumni@uni-tuebingen.de at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting.

Abstract

The masculinization of the drum is a symptom of a larger problem. In this presentation, Beatriz Medeiros will discuss why the materiality of and the sound produced by the drum kit are associated with so-called masculine characteristics. This association is connected to the idea of the drum kit producing a brutal sound, reinforcing the notion that percussions were used by many communities and peoples around the world as war tools. Contemporarily, we still feel the exclusion of women in the process of learning to play the drum kit. Prejudices around the instrument because of its noise and its appearance, together with a cultural construction that delegates women to smaller or more melodic instruments, and the high price of the full set of the drum kit, turn away female interest.

Our speaker will address the sexism prevalent in the music industry and will show which actions are taken to increase accessibility and to dismantle the idea that masculinizes the drum kit.

Our speaker

Ph.D. student with a cotutelle contract between the Graduate Program of Communication at Universidade Federal Fluminense, with a Capes scholarship (Academic Excellence), and the Philosophie Fakultät at Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, with a DAAD scholarship. Master at Communication with fellowships from Capes and Faperj. Bachelor in Media Studies at Universidade Federal Fluminense. Currently doing an investigation with women of the Brazilian music industry and their strategies to survive a masculinized market.

Please find more information on the event here.

We look forward to welcoming you at the event.