Slappers who Gouge your Eyes
Slappers who gouge your eyes: vocal performance as exemplification of disturbing inertia in gender equality.
This new article addresses the issue of single-sex education in the context of boys' singing. It makes a qualified case for single-sex music classes, but with significant reservations. It argues against the politics of "recuperative masculinity" - the idea that boys have fallen behind girls and need special "boy friendly" measures to help them catch up. There is a good case for single sex singing opportunities between the ages of eleven and fourteen, but there are also many disadvantages to setting by sex and the evidence overall does not lend strong support to the idea. In the case of singing, the issue is particularly finely balanced and considerable knowledge and understanding of gender issues in the classroom is needed by teachers whether working in co-educational or single sex settings.
