It's a Skirt! I’ve spent a good chunk of my life involved in predominately all-boy organizations. It’s never been a purposeful thing–it isn’t as if I think “Hey, I’ve got a bright idea! Let’s join an all-male organization so that I can have billions of jokes made about my femininity, feel like beating neanderthals against cinder block walls, and hey, maybe I’ll even meet the man I want to marry!” (It has been suggested to me that the final reason is the *only* explainable reason that I would have joined all of these all-male organizations). The all-male (or seriously testosterone-driven) quality of many of the organizations is inexplicable to me–I’d have no problem if I was joining Boy Scouts (by the by, I am actually a Boy Scout)(okay, Explorer, but I like to pretend that I know all that knot crap too...)and was the only girl, but things like Jazz band?!? To give a little context, I play the Euphonium. I’ve been in all-male sections a good part of my musical career... as an example, my senior year of High School at Maryland All-State Band, you had to go 16 chairs down to the trombone section to find another girl, and then 12 more into the trumpets to find a third one. It’s been alright, don’t get me wrong, the gender of the people I’ve played with has never been an issue for me, only their musicality. What is an issue is, when during section breaks, or things of that nature, it becomes clear that it is time for penis talk and those of us not so endowed are not welcome. Sometimes it’s not even explicit.... but when the jokes like “What do you call the excess skin around a man’s penis? A woman.” start flying I tend to take the hint and scurry my non-barefoot-nor-pregnant little ass out of there. I don’t want to generalize–I’ve played with great guys who didn’t have a sexist bone in their body, but on the whole, there have been more awkward moments caused by my femininity than not. For many years I’ve just dismissed this as a factor of immature middle/high school environments.... but now I’m here in college and I am seeing the same nonsense. I am the *only* girl in the Rice University Jazz Ensemble. I can’t believe that the lack of a Y-chromosome has inhibited the swing in the souls of all of my sisters here on campus–but where are they all? In the Marching Owl Band (called the MOB) I’m the only girl who is a member in good standing of the low brass section in it’s entirety. I’ve been the recipient of such charming sentiments as “Amelia, you’ve really been butching up lately.” and “All low brass girls are just out to get a trumpet boyfriend.” I’m used to a certain amount of marching band crudeness–I knew more dirty jokes at 14 than any of my girlfriends–but the comments that infuriate me are the ones made by people when they hear that I’m in the Jazz Band. “Oh! So, you sing.” “No, I’m not a singer.” “What do you do in the Jazz Band then?” Ummm.... hey, maybe I play an instrument?!? I’ve been tempted to answer this one with a variety of ridiculous answers (ie. “No, I don’t really do anything, just stand around and try and distract the trumpets.” or “I’m the page-turner! ”) I love the jazz band, though, and I love all of the guys there–so I can’t complain, even if I am the only one in the room without a penis. So, don’t be all offended, I just wanted to put this out there, in part as a call to arms for my sisters with low-brass soul. I saw a lot of you out there for TUBAChristmas, so keep on playing, and we’ll make beautiful music together!