Snapshot: Gendering Music

When the blues , originally a folk music, emerged from its underground status in the 1890s and continued to evolve in the early twentieth century, it was associated mainly with male singers and instrumentalists [see Blues, p. 637]. Undoubtedly this had to do with blues performance contexts—streets, riverboats, railroad stations, pool halls, bars, brothels, house parties, dances, and jailhouses. But women frequently sang the blues for themselves, and two female singers were reported among...