Hiya,
I am a bit biased against these kind of gender studies, excuse me for that. Collecting data can never be bad, so I hope you succeed.
However, I am a bit disappointed already by your tiny article.
..." and more generally, (women) are not as respected in the juggling community."
How did you draw this conclusion?
And, are you taking in account, when you say that female jugglers get less appearances in festival shows, that there are generally less female jugglers available? That specifically at juggling conventions it is those with high technique who thrive (unlike at circus/theatre festivals or other stages), and that women are not so well represented in this genre of juggling?
I personally feel like female jugglers have an advantage over male jugglers in shows. They are rare and unique, and wanted.
I have a female friend who got into a Gandini production, though she could hardly juggle compared to the male auditionees. Gandini needed a mix of male and female performers (7 male 2 female for this particular show) and there simply were no better female candidates available. With less skill you can still get into the big gigs.
The same happened in my circus school, in one of the auditions (not mine), a female juggler was allowed into the school. We were all very surprised, as she wasn't very good in a lot of areas including juggling, compared to the other auditionees. The juggling teacher replied with something like "lack of female jugglers, need to stimulate, high market value".
Also, I have been taking part in the organisation of some juggling convention shows. Always the topic 'female juggler' pops up, where we are desperate to add some more femininity to the show, but we don't know who. When we first make a list of our favorite acts, not many girls seem to make it, but in the end we always find a way to include one or two.
Now I am not saying that the above is necessarily bad, but it makes me extra sad to see that people start research about how girls are negatively treated unequally.
What about the possibility that on average girls are less interested in juggling?
by Daniel Simu, in response to this post 2016-01-14 17:42:24
