Male Appeal

On two separate occasions, people were surprised to learn that I do not have a girlfriend. I was accused of not trying hard enough, because I play the piano and the violin (and recently the saxophone) and “girls have a soft spot for male musicians”, or so I was told.

My quick mental cogitation suggest that such phenomena, if indeed exist, stemmed from the cultural stereotype of these male musicians. The archetypal male pianist – so often perpetuated by mass media, especially in the form of Taiwanese idol drama or Korean melodrama – is quiet, introverted, yet expressive. He channeled his innermost feelings from his bosom, whether anger or joy, with sheer decorum and lyricism – through the keys of the piano. The same can be said of the male violinist, although “expressive” deserved an emphasis since violin is known to be the most expressive of musical intruments. I would also go as far as saying the male violinist emanates a sense of profundity, aptitude, and prodigiousness, given that the violin is said to be the most difficult instrument to master.

I suspected the historical context of the piano and violin played an important role in sexing up the appeal too. Prior to the 20th century, violin and piano are available only to the privileged few in Europe, and only the elite few patronized concert halls and opera houses. This connotes (whether true or not) that a pianist and/or a violinist is typically wealthy and privileged, and is thus well-educated, well-groomed and cultured.

So the male musician is perceived as having the qualities of what some female might consider “the ideal soul-mate”: a good listener (quiet, introverted, calm, cultured), emotional (expressive), smart (prodigiousness, aptitude, profundity, well-educated), and well-to-do; although I stand to be corrected as I do not come from Venus and cannot possibly claim I understood the opposite sex thoroughly.

Of course, I don’t pretend that I embodied all the qualities that I had just described. So no, this is not a self-indulgent narcissitic piece of writing.