Old rant is old, and yet still vitriolic
There is an episode of The West Wing that featured the Yale Whiffenpoofs. It made me burn with rage, as all mentions of the Whiffs do.
If you don't know, the Whiffenpoofs are an a cappella group at Yale. Not only are they the oldest, but they are by far the most prestigious. Cole Porter sang with them. They sing for royalty. They travel the world. They are Yale's ambassadors. They sing on shows like The West Wing. And they're all male.
And they don't get these gigs because they're good. They are--though stiffed shirt is more what comes to mind. As an all-senior group, the quality entirely depends on the year. So when they get gigs like they do, and oh they do, it's because they're The Whiffenpoofs, not because they're such a better group than anything else on Yale campus.
Women have repeatedly tried to join the Whiffenpoofs. And repeatedly failed. They founded a competing group in the same vein, Whim 'n Rhythm, but you don't see them playing for royalty or on TV shows. They may be structurally the same but, you know, they're women. And they're not the Whiffs.
I've finally figured out why I get so angry about this. It's not like I went to Yale. It's not like I think I could have gotten in, even if it were co-ed. It's that this institution exists and gives a blessed year and incredibly opportunity to the people who step into it, not by their work, but by its very reputation, and in order to get that, you have to have a penis.
I realized that this is probably how I'd feel if I were thirty years older and the Ivy Leagues were still all-male. Both my high school and my college wouldn't have let me in if I were my parents' generation, for reasons that have nothing to do with my ability. I think if I had been of that era, I would have looked at Princeton with similar rage. Not the expectation that I'd be able to get in, but that there wasn't even a possibility. That no one like me could get in.
I know there are Reasons why the Whiffs are still all male. I know--a male a cappella sound is completely different from a female one, or even a coed. It has a long tradition. All the music is arranged for men. But I call bullshit on all of that. The schools went coed. The Glee Clubs went coed (except for Harvard, and don't think I'm not angry about that). The alma maters were rewritten to be inclusive (even Rutgers's, which has a line that rhymes with "man," making the rewrite terribly clumsy), they were rearranged to include women's voices. LOADS of music written for all-male choirs with boy sopranos are now sung by women, and, except for some historical purists, nobody blinks at that.
THERE IS NO REASON IN THE GODDAMN WORLD WHY THE WHIFFENPOOFS REMAIN ALL MALE. They exist to say fuck you to every female singer that attends Yale. To say fuck you, it doesn't matter how good you are, how hard you work, your voice will never be considered worth it.
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If you don't know, the Whiffenpoofs are an a cappella group at Yale. Not only are they the oldest, but they are by far the most prestigious. Cole Porter sang with them. They sing for royalty. They travel the world. They are Yale's ambassadors. They sing on shows like The West Wing. And they're all male.
And they don't get these gigs because they're good. They are--though stiffed shirt is more what comes to mind. As an all-senior group, the quality entirely depends on the year. So when they get gigs like they do, and oh they do, it's because they're The Whiffenpoofs, not because they're such a better group than anything else on Yale campus.
Women have repeatedly tried to join the Whiffenpoofs. And repeatedly failed. They founded a competing group in the same vein, Whim 'n Rhythm, but you don't see them playing for royalty or on TV shows. They may be structurally the same but, you know, they're women. And they're not the Whiffs.
I've finally figured out why I get so angry about this. It's not like I went to Yale. It's not like I think I could have gotten in, even if it were co-ed. It's that this institution exists and gives a blessed year and incredibly opportunity to the people who step into it, not by their work, but by its very reputation, and in order to get that, you have to have a penis.
I realized that this is probably how I'd feel if I were thirty years older and the Ivy Leagues were still all-male. Both my high school and my college wouldn't have let me in if I were my parents' generation, for reasons that have nothing to do with my ability. I think if I had been of that era, I would have looked at Princeton with similar rage. Not the expectation that I'd be able to get in, but that there wasn't even a possibility. That no one like me could get in.
I know there are Reasons why the Whiffs are still all male. I know--a male a cappella sound is completely different from a female one, or even a coed. It has a long tradition. All the music is arranged for men. But I call bullshit on all of that. The schools went coed. The Glee Clubs went coed (except for Harvard, and don't think I'm not angry about that). The alma maters were rewritten to be inclusive (even Rutgers's, which has a line that rhymes with "man," making the rewrite terribly clumsy), they were rearranged to include women's voices. LOADS of music written for all-male choirs with boy sopranos are now sung by women, and, except for some historical purists, nobody blinks at that.
THERE IS NO REASON IN THE GODDAMN WORLD WHY THE WHIFFENPOOFS REMAIN ALL MALE. They exist to say fuck you to every female singer that attends Yale. To say fuck you, it doesn't matter how good you are, how hard you work, your voice will never be considered worth it.
The Dreamwidth copy of this post has
comments. Comment there or here.