The Role of Gender in the British Brass Band

Armsby, Heather J (2024). The Role of Gender in the British Brass Band. PhD thesis The Open University.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21954/ou.ro.00098787

Abstract

This thesis examines the role that gender plays within the modern British brass band, which to date is strongly linked with heavily stereotyped imagery projecting masculinity. With declining numbers of brass bands across Great Britain and the wider societal push for gender equality, diversification is essential to the long term future of the art form.

Through investigating how the British brass band perpetuates images of masculinity and/or excludes images of femininity (consciously or subconsciously) as well as the extent to which the stereotypical view of the British bass band as being a masculine pastime remains true in the modern day, I demonstrate that brass bands are being engaged with by women and in some cases in almost equal numbers to men, especially in the lower sections of the National Brass Band Championships’ five divisions.

Using evidence collected through discussion with brass band players of all genders as well as observation of brass bands performing between 2013 and 2018 at the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, I investigate the culture and environments in which brass bands exist. I examine the uniforms and dress codes which are routinely employed, the instrumentation that defines the brass band and a selection of music written for, or routinely performed by, brass bands and consider how they reflect (or do not reflect) gendered ideas. This thesis argues that the British brass band has aspects of its imagery, behaviours and culture which project and perpetuate images of masculinity, but the community itself does not discriminate based on gender.