I’m Female, Give Me Money! What Kerry Andrew wants
IT gets rather tedious seeing yet another person demanding that they be given the taxpayers’ money for some reason or other. Here we’ve a female composer named Kerry Andrew demanding that there should be more female composers on the curriculum.
We need, however, to address the inequality at the nub: those writing the curriculum, the National Music Plan, and teachers at all levels should make an effort to use examples of music by women in the classroom; to promote composition as a living, breathing, utterly unisex profession.
There would be no greater achievement for me and my female peers to see that we’ve inspired more girls to follow a similar path – but it’s down to educators, programmers and organisations to help.
Well, yes, but follow the money as always. For living composers get paid cold hard cash when their pieces are used in schools. And exams, on the curriculum. Being the capitalist bastard that I am I’ve nothing against people making money but this does seem a tad off: I’m female, the taxpayers should pay me.
She’s also rather gone off the rails here:
At GCSE and A-level, the classical composers studied in set works are almost exclusively male. And white. Oh, and dead.
Well, yes. Classical music itself was pretty much white and male: and it’s all old enough that everyone is dead too. There’s really not much we can do about the fact that Brahms, Beethoven and Bizet all had balls and short of reincarnation nothing at all we can do about their decomposing.
Image: Julia Ward Howe, composer and publisher of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic ” in 1862, became a leader in the woman’s suffrage movementy in 1868. She also participated in moves to promote international peace. Julia Ward Howe is shown in this undated photo.
Posted: 9th, February 2012 | In: Money Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
