Caleb

Warnar
Kari K Veblen
Music 1800
December 12, 2015

Lamb, R. (2014). Where are the women? And other questions, asked within an historical analysis
of sociology of music education research publications: Being a self-reflective ethnographic path.
Action, Criticism & Theory For Music Education, 13(1), 188-222.

In this article, Lamb discusses the social and professional issues of women over time

while encouraging diversity and acceptance in society. Her ultimate goal for music education is
for it to be inclusive, equitable, and enjoyable.

I found it interesting that Lamb compared the opening story of the bar in Costa Rica

with how she envisions music education. The woman in the story was delighted by the ethnic
and cultural diversity, and Lamb reflects that she would like music education to be just as
diverse. She also related that just as the woman in the bar became as involved in observing the
musical activity as she was participating in it, music education should encourage others to do
the same.

What surprised me was that there were many women of the past that deserved more

credit for their work. I wrote a letter to Angel Records because I discovered they had
misattributed a duet written by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel to Felix Mendelssohn (Lamb). I
studied Felix Mendelssohn in the past, and I was unaware of any of Fannys works being
mistaken for Felixs.

I was frustrated that Lamb did not provide a clear thesis or objective for analysis. I found

that she changed her focus as the article continued, and rather than discussing where are the
women, she altered the focus to blurred social issues. Also, her concluding sentence related
not as much to her overall content as it did to the story of the lady in Costa Rica.

As a comment to the author, I would have liked Lamb to have elaborated on how

exactly the women of today are involved in music education. While women may have faced
struggles in the 1970s, how are the struggles different today for women? I know plenty of
women who are considered equality as competent as men in music education. How is the issue
still relevant today? Why have a thesis that is unclear in purpose if your end goal is to conclude
with totally different results?