Music: Biology Nerd Edition

There are many ways in which music and gender coincide. There are certain themes women express in their music more often than men do, or there are trends in the types of instruments men play that do not crossover to what is expected of women. How music is marketed for men and women is different, with women normally being sexualized in their videos while men try to look "cool" or tough. All of this has to do with what the gender norms of our society are, with women normally being expected to normally be softer while men are expected to be tough, and said expectations can be harmful to both and can restrict what each gender can do based on how society thinks they should act.  In the past, there have been some pretty clear lines drawn when it comes to what instruments women should play and what instruments men should play. In the recent past the lines are becoming more blurred, with more women starting to play percussive instruments and men starting to play aerophones such as fl...

I have decided to use more personal experiences in this blog rather than talk about music and rituals in other cultures.  One thing that my family does every year is that on the day after Thanksgiving, we go out and buy a tree (however due to the state of the economy we decided to skip that part this year and buy a fake tree), bring it back to the house, and decorate the house as we wait for the limbs to drop. Every year while we decorate, we listen to the Carpenter's Christmas Portrait album, which is my mother's favorite collection of Christmas music. I am not exactly sure how this tradition started, but this has been happening every year for as long as I can remember and definitely as long as my sister has been alive, and she is 12.  My two favorite songs on this album are "Medley: Winter Wonderland/Silver Bells/White Christmas" and "My Favorite Things". I like the medley because it is a combination of faster and slower songs, and I like "My Favorite...