Mr.Gumby wrote:O'Neill gave jobs to musicians to keep them in Chicago so he could get tunes off them. You will have to wonder if the situation was a typical one.As mentioned, In O'Neill's Chicago the police force was full of flute players
Flute playing in Ireland was always a bit of a macho activity, the physicality of fluteplaying and all that. Not considered suitable for women at all.
The popularity fro mthe sixties onward of the boehm flute among women worldwide is a completely separate subject.
People say this about O'Neill and it's fun to think so but I doubt it's true. I had a conversation with Nicholas Carolan in September where he said the same thing. Police jobs were pretty plumb jobs, much sought after, and O'Neill was only chief for about 5 years. At no point in his career did he have untrammeled authority to appoint whoever he pleased. There would always be someone else wanting to get their person appointed. He does sometimes note that this or that musician found place on the force, so it no doubt happened sometime, but he never would have been able to hire whoever he pleased. He several times talks act this or that musician as being a great player but being "unfortunately allergic to work," or prone to drink, or in one case being persuaded that his interest lay in moving to the west, e.g, he was run out of town.
It might be "hippie chicks" in the 60s that gave the flute a feminine cast, although at the same time there was lots of jazz flute and that was a pretty macho culture. I don't think the simple system flute was ever "gendered female."
I would say that in my daughter's generation you see more girls playing trumpet, sax, and percussion, My daughter, all four foot eleven of her, is the first alto in the 8th grade band. There are girls in the trumpets and the drums. Good to see: her generation gives me hope