First off, as the husband of a guitar playing woman, my answer to this question is a firm "no"...

BUT, on the radio this morning I was listening to a discussion about how toys can reinforce gender stereotypes in kids - giving girls dolls and ponies and boys toy soldiers and trucks, that sort of thing. It's not a new idea, and it's not really what I'm asking here - but it did get me thinking.

Recently I've seen an increasing number of 'girls' guitars in shops and online - from candy pink strats to sparkly purple heart shapes. I know some are deliberately smaller and lighter - my wife plays a gorgeous 3/4 size classical which I love too - but Fender make smaller guitars for kids too and they just look like regular models, but dinky. It's more the finish that I'm on about. There must be a reason that only two women - Bonny Rait and Joni Mitchell - appeared in Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists and that the majority of guitarists in the biggest bands are still fellas.

Do these pink and sparkly guits somehow say that all other guitars must be for boys, or that others just aren't attractive to girls? Is it just that girls aren't drawn to the instrument in general? Or is it that boys are more inclined to sit in a poorly lit room on their own, strumming for hours (read into that what you will).

I'd love to know what folk think about this - particularly what any female forum members think.

Rolling Stone article is here
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-guitarists-20111123

p.s. hair metallers of either gender and with a natural tendency towards pink, sparkly, star shaped guitars, feel free to sit this one out )

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Mater tua criceta fuit, et pater tuo redoluit bacarum sambucus

Absolutely not. There are phenomenal female guitarists in all genres.

Sharon Isbin, Liona Boyd, and Ana Vidovic are three world-class classical guitarists who immediately come to mind who happen to be female. There have been lots of top notch women classical players for a long time.

In rock, it's true that there are still a disproportionate number of male to female guitarists, but I think that is changing. Do some searching on Youtube and you'll come across plenty of great guitarists rocking a pair of x chomosomes, including:

St. Vincent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JySQE4axlJY

Orianthi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK6tcgsKgps

Marissa Paternoster with Screaming Females
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoNPFbHyAUE

Nita Strauss with the Iron Maidens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsQ-aHD8 ... r_embedded

There are, of course, many, many more including my own sister who has played guitar and bass in my band. I think as time goes on, you'll be seeing more and more great women guitarists stepping into the spotlight.

Er, no.

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I have some Fender gear.
(Telecaster, Jaguar, Villager 12 String. Mustang l, Bronco, SCX2, Rumble 350, HRDIII, Rumble 2x8 Neo Cab)
http://www.reverbnation.com/modwiz

Thanks for posting, Marissa is a monster!

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

Not "just..."

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You're welcome, sir! I saw Marissa play with SF about two years ago here in Buffalo and was very impressed. Definitely a fun band worth checking out.

No, guitars are gender-independent musical instruments, not boys' toys. However, it is true that contemporary musical sub-cultures have been male dominated. But this is changing, and now we are in the 21st Century, it should change even more as women move more and more into what were once male-dominated professions.

And if we are compiling a list of female guitarists, let's not forget Nancy Wilson of Heart, Joan Baez, jazz guitarist Joyce Cooling, Lita Ford, and the Norwegian goth metal band Octavia Sperati, which had 2 female guitarists.

As for sparkling pink guitars, I admit I'm attracted to a guitar by aesthetics as much as other factors. So if they get young girls interested in playing guitar at an early age, I guess they are a good thing.

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"Today Atlantis, tomorrow the world!"

I don't think they're glorified at all. As much as we as players like to think we're cool because we can play, I think most people that can't play don't understand why we do it, what it takes to be good, and don't think we're particularly cool.
Sometimes when I play in front of people I often get the feeling they think I'm crazy for being on stage at my age.
As far as gender goes, fewer girls have a natural interest to play guitar than boys, so if pink guitars spark their interest, that's great. Guitar playing is kind of physical. My daughter would never risk her manicured nails just to strum a few songs. Sad but true.

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'10 American Deluxe HSS Sunset Metallic
'10 JA-90 Thinline Telecaster
'15 Music Man JP-15 Blueberry Burst
'07 Les Paul Standard Faded LCPG #82
'14 Carvin ST300
'12 Carvin CS424S
'66 Guild Starfire IV w/Bigsby
'14 Warmouth Partscaster Daphne Blue

i think these talented ladies rock and look good with their instruments
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcATvu5f9vE

Of course they are! The only reason anyone plays a guitar is to get the girl......


But in all seriousness I wouldn't call it a boys toy but its for sure a more male dominated instrument, however if you looked at the violin or clarinet or some other orchestra style instrument I'm sure you'd see a very different story. I just thing the music you play on the guitar lends itself towards male players more.

Personally I think this whole thread is Do-Do...

Reinforcing Gender Stereotypes..?? C'mon..

Boys are Boys and Girls are Girls, in case you haven't noticed the difference...

Women are now open to the same opportunities as Men... and should be...

But that doesn't mean they have to surrender their gender to do so...

It's all a bunch of pseudo-intellectual babble...

In the East, stringed instruments were virtually exclusive to women, and back in Europe, women often played the Lyre and Mandoline...

Music is not gender specific...

As mentioned, if a kiddy guitar speckled with glitter-on-pink, or emblazoned with G.I. Joe on the pickguard, causes excitement enough to encourage a kid to pick it up and play... that's a GOOD thing !!

We Now Return You to the Core Subject... Guitars.. !!

cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele

i say no. i think there are more talented female guitar players then we will ever know. dudes just like to talk about it more and brag about the latest, greatest new gear they purchased and how good it sounds etc. the women just play for the love of music and the instrument.

Boy? No.

Toys? Depends on which axe you have.

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I have some Fender gear.
(Telecaster, Jaguar, Villager 12 String. Mustang l, Bronco, SCX2, Rumble 350, HRDIII, Rumble 2x8 Neo Cab)
http://www.reverbnation.com/modwiz

To Me a guitar started out to be a toy to attract girls, and it worked. Now it's become kind of a way of life. I've found that girls not only like boys that play. They also like playing themselves. My Wife plays a Black HSS Strat. My 6 year old Granddaughter plays a Black Mini Strat. My 3year old Granddaughter is playing a 3/4 Acoustic, and My 9 month old Granddaughter uses a Ukulele as a drum stick. One day we may even learn a song we can all play together.
----Danny,

Heck, I play a pink strat:


They don't call it Woman Salmon- - do they?