I can't speak for stringed instruments, but I know in my high school band instruments were pretty much segregated by sex. Guys as a rule did NOT play woodwinds - saxes were the exception. The one male clarinet player could (and would) kick the *ss of anybody who questioned his manhood. He ended up being the drum major his senior year. Gals as a rule did NOT play brass. We had one girl trombone player (who had a Reputation as a result), one girl trumpet player (who was so low in the section's hierarchy that she was just ignored), and one girl sousaphone player (who weighed exactly twice what her instrument did - she almost sailed away during a particularly windy parade).

From what I've seen, brass=boys, woodwinds=girls is very much the norm in high schools. My question is, where do all the male flutists come from? Were they hiding out in the sax section until after college?

PoC
(former flute player, who is intimidated by banjos and hasn't touched a recorder since college)