Peter T, I've never tried to hire studio musicians so I don't know how difficult it is to find women studio musicians. But I'll confess to feeling slightly rancorous -- no, that's too strong a word for the feeling; more like miffed -- when I go to read the credits on an album by some great woman and every musician/producer/engineer is a guy. I try to imagine myself in the position of having to put together an ensemble for a recording, and I feel like I'd want to seek out other women musicians as part of the balance. The other day I was reading the liner notes to the Island anthology of Marianne Faithfull's works, and they set her up as this poster-child for feminism, depicting her as having been oppressed by gender expectations in the late '60s, which I don't doubt for a second. But what's disturbing is that, with the exception of some orchestrated pieces that include a few women in the orchestra, all other musicians are men; the credits don't look much different from how they would have looked three decades ago. The notes say "When she began her career as a seventeen-year-old shaped by a series of producers, managers, and lovers, Faithfull was overwhelmed by the visions those men forced upon her. Her career on Island records has been a process of self-assertion. . ." but meanwhile, back in the 1990s, her producer is Angelo Badalamenti, manager is a guy, you get the idea. I suppose the difference is that in the '60s she didn't have as much choice, and now she has a choice about the people she wants to work with. Gee, I didn't mean to pick on Marianne Faithfull or anybody, really; it's just something I notice time and again. And yikes, we were supposed to be talking about FOLK music here; sorry!

Closer to my own reality, I'm typically the only woman playing at the local Irish session. I've never experienced any difficulties or overt inequities; doesn't seem to matter to anyone if I play the fiddle or the guitar. I have noticed , though, that when guitar-playing fellows show up to a session without an instrument, and start jonesing to play when they see everyone having fun, they'll always ask the only female -- me -- if they can borrow my guitar and sit in for a song or two. Of course, I just might seem to have a friendlier, more approachable demeanor than the other guitar players, and that's why the choose me, but in any case it's a pattern. There are so many variables, and I've always believed you just deal with gender inequity as and if it arises; I find no more unappealing character trait than that of having a chip on one's shoulder.

Margaret