When it comes to music, I must say I am lucky to always be surrounded by friends who are musically oriented and motivated(Though somehow, most of them seem to be of the male breed). Last evening was an evening with one such group of friends, practicing and creating tunes and rhythms,with guitars, bass, drums and voices.
There came a moment in the practice session when we had to refer to Youtube for one of the guys to check the guitar cover of a rock song. One of my friends sat himself in front of the computer screen and typed in the search for the guitar cover(All those who may be musically- retarded, a cover is when an artist reproduces the original song, but is not the original artist).
The first video suggested by Youtube was that of a girl with her electric guitar. Since I wasn't the one playing the guitar I wasn't paying much attention to this quest, until I hear my friend's comment and the giggles that followed from the rest of my group!
"You guys wanna check out a chick playing the song" *Read the phrase with utter sarcasm and cynicism in his voice*. Then all I hear after that gender-biased comment is all my friends giggling! No one protested against that remark!
Maybe the fact that I was the only girl present, made me the only one to yell out against it. But being a man is no excuse to underestimate the talent of a girl, is it?
Being the rebel that I am, I had to say something. My comment went something like this, "Hey! Don't underestimate anyone based on their gender. Girls can play the guitar too!"
Though I heard further protests from the guys saying they didn't judge based on the fact that she was a women, they still chose to watch a video by a guy!
I further put forth my point saying, "She has got the most views on Youtube, so obviously she is good".
To my utter dismay, my well-educated and open-minded friends commented "She got the views because she is a woman! That is how it works in Youtube".
The rebel in me couldn't sit quite while this group of men, who will later become the future of this country and become accountable for this nation's fate, undermined the abilities of an entire population of women, and that too only for the fact that they are women!
What seems like a common interaction of men in this nation on a daily-basis, is in fact the very reason as to why women aren't given the credit, opportunity and the life that they deserve! I live in a nation where it is completely normal that I am judged as incapable of anything worthwhile ONLY BECAUSE I AM A WOMAN!
They all assumed that the girl wouldn't play well without even listening to her play. Worst of all, they all truly believed that the views that she had earned were purely because SHE WAS A WOMAN! The people in this country believe that when a woman earns any recognition or credibility, it is purely because of her appeal of BEING A WOMAN, and that it has nothing to do with the fact that she may actually be good at what she does, and worked hard to get to where she is!
Having a debate would make no sense, so once they were done listening to the guy play, I had to go back and play the video where the woman is seen playing the song. Any guesses of how she played?
If you guessed she was horrible, then you are exactly like those who judge based on gender! Because she played really well. Even my men-friends had to finally agree that she was better than the male counter-part, and hence actually deserved the high views that she earned for her skills, and not just for the fact that SHE WAS A WOMAN.
Its time we look at people for what they truly are capable of, which means looking beyond their gender too!
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There came a moment in the practice session when we had to refer to Youtube for one of the guys to check the guitar cover of a rock song. One of my friends sat himself in front of the computer screen and typed in the search for the guitar cover(All those who may be musically- retarded, a cover is when an artist reproduces the original song, but is not the original artist).
The first video suggested by Youtube was that of a girl with her electric guitar. Since I wasn't the one playing the guitar I wasn't paying much attention to this quest, until I hear my friend's comment and the giggles that followed from the rest of my group!
"You guys wanna check out a chick playing the song" *Read the phrase with utter sarcasm and cynicism in his voice*. Then all I hear after that gender-biased comment is all my friends giggling! No one protested against that remark!
Maybe the fact that I was the only girl present, made me the only one to yell out against it. But being a man is no excuse to underestimate the talent of a girl, is it?
Being the rebel that I am, I had to say something. My comment went something like this, "Hey! Don't underestimate anyone based on their gender. Girls can play the guitar too!"Though I heard further protests from the guys saying they didn't judge based on the fact that she was a women, they still chose to watch a video by a guy!
I further put forth my point saying, "She has got the most views on Youtube, so obviously she is good".
To my utter dismay, my well-educated and open-minded friends commented "She got the views because she is a woman! That is how it works in Youtube".
The rebel in me couldn't sit quite while this group of men, who will later become the future of this country and become accountable for this nation's fate, undermined the abilities of an entire population of women, and that too only for the fact that they are women!
What seems like a common interaction of men in this nation on a daily-basis, is in fact the very reason as to why women aren't given the credit, opportunity and the life that they deserve! I live in a nation where it is completely normal that I am judged as incapable of anything worthwhile ONLY BECAUSE I AM A WOMAN!
They all assumed that the girl wouldn't play well without even listening to her play. Worst of all, they all truly believed that the views that she had earned were purely because SHE WAS A WOMAN! The people in this country believe that when a woman earns any recognition or credibility, it is purely because of her appeal of BEING A WOMAN, and that it has nothing to do with the fact that she may actually be good at what she does, and worked hard to get to where she is!
Having a debate would make no sense, so once they were done listening to the guy play, I had to go back and play the video where the woman is seen playing the song. Any guesses of how she played?
If you guessed she was horrible, then you are exactly like those who judge based on gender! Because she played really well. Even my men-friends had to finally agree that she was better than the male counter-part, and hence actually deserved the high views that she earned for her skills, and not just for the fact that SHE WAS A WOMAN.
Its time we look at people for what they truly are capable of, which means looking beyond their gender too!
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