Breaking Boundaries: Women in jazz work to overcome bias

December 25, 2018

By Elizabeth Zhang

Lexington High School has beginning jazz classes, jazz seminars, Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Combo, and Septet, which performs jazz.

In other words, at LHS, jazz is big.

“All the people in the jazz community that I’ve met are really quirky and nerdily into it but in a really cool way. It’s just really cool to see people unashamed about how into it they are,” Mira Ward, a junior jazz drummer, said.

The LHS jazz community is also a tight-knit group.

“I think the best part about this community is that people are always there to support one another. They always come to see you at events, partly because people like listening to jazz and they really appreciate the music, but also to support their friends,” Yoojee Kim, a senior jazz vocalist, said. “I think when you are in an ensemble like that, there’s a deeper connection in the work you’re doing, deeper than the music you’re making, that definitely carries over into friendships.”

Although the community is inclusive and supportive, women still experience prejudice.

“Sometimes, I feel condescended in certain ways. In situations with other drummers, I’m often less experienced [than] them, which makes sense that they would be like, ‘Let me teach you.’ But I definitely get that vibe from people like, ‘Let me help you,’” Ward said.

Some individuals tend to oversimplify guiding actions and not respect fellow musicians’ experience in the field.

“I’m learning on my own. I don't need you to clap out the beat for me with the metronome… I can listen to the metronome on my own,” Ward said.

Prejudice against women may also manifest as blatant disregard.

“I remember one time, a judge just didn’t look at me for an entire workshop. He was asking questions to the other guy that was the drummer in the band but not me, and I was like, ‘I’m right here, I can help,” Ward said.

Sometimes, attempts to seem progressive can backfire, and make girls uncomfortable, Kim noted.

“One of the adjudicators made these weird comments…and was like ‘Oh wow, a girl on the saxophone’ and I remember thinking it was so weird because I would not want to be targeted or called out like that just because I’m a girl,” Kim said.

LHS has taken steps to make jazz more inclusive, such as adding women to the curriculum.

“Last year we had a focus on female composers in Jazz Ensemble, so that was really cool because in a lot of ways, people are appreciating the work that we do rather than knocking us down,” Kim said.

As Ward says, “We’re all just here to play music.”