Way back in Episode 012 of Mid-Riff with Jacqueline James, she discussed the idea of the gear panopticon, which I love and decided to expand on here— and connect to the concepts of stereotype threat and imposter syndrome.
What is the gear panopticon? Well, the panopticon was a term coined by Jeremy Bentham and popularized by French philosopher, Michel Foucault— initially with regard to prison surveillance, where in prisons, one could surveil the most prisoners by creating a circular room with a tower in the center from which to view the whole space. These days, the term comes up most frequently in reference to digital surveillance.
So, the gear panopticon is when you feel surveilled while trying out music gear.
If you are, for example, A femme person and you've ever gone to try something out in a guitar shop, you probably experienced this. It's like that sort of feeling that you're constantly under watch— either real or imagined.
The gear panopticon, is directly tied to the concept of stereotype threat, which is when someone is anxious or stressed about confirming a stereotype about a group in which they are a member, so much so that it impacts their ability to perform a particular task. The original research on stereotype threat was by Claude Steele in 1997 and found that when black men were completing a math test, they were more likely to perform poorly when compared to white men. In this original research, when the they were told specifically that the test was measuring their cognitive ability they performed worse than black men who were told that it was simply a research task.
So, you can see the implications here— for live performance, for education, workplaces, and of course, for music gear.
Since the original research, the concept has been expanded to pretty much every field. You can read more about that in Steels’ book, “Whistling Vivaldi.”
So, whether it's real or imagined, this nervousness one might feel about confirming the stereotype that you don't know how to play or don't know about gear is a real one. And in some cases it might lead someone to stop going to stores, it might lead them to end up with gear that they don't want, or even to quit music for fear of confirming the stereotype. It might also make someone feel like they have to like work much harder or know more than a cis man to be taken seriously.
Stereotype threat can also be connected to the idea of imposter syndrome. Of course, anyone can go to a music store. Anyone should be able to try out and buy an instrument that fits their needs, right?
Whether it's a beginner or someone who's highly skilled, no one should be made to feel like they shouldn't be there. And yes, even younger cis boys might be nervous if they are beginners, but they are ultimately encouraged to be in these spaces, and it is unlikely that they feel some sort of performance anxiety related to their gender in those spaces.
So, if you work in a shop, or even if you are a manufacturer whose gear is sold in shops, it's important to know the challenges for folks who wanna try music there. Unfortunately there's potentially a lot wrapped up in a trip to a music store.
And, if you think about it, there's almost no other space where you have to loudly demonstrate your prowess at a particular task before figuring out whether or not you want to buy it, right?
You are probably thinking, “What are the solutions are here?”
Of course, training your staff is always a good step so that customers are feel welcomed in your space. But, there is also a very simple and practical option, and this I will admit will work great for guitars, basses, and synths (and maybe less so for drums): All you need to do is provide headphones for folks who want to try out gear.
It seems so obvious, right? This is something that you see a lot at NAMM and other trade shows now, with the idea of keeping the volume level down because it’s so loud in those spaces. But there are benefits for those trying out your gear, as well.
I also worked at a shop once that actually had a whole separate tryout room. I know that's not something everyone can do. But if you have space, it's great. It’s also a better solution if people feel like they still need to crank it up for the purpose of trying out an amp or something loudly.
Another idea is that wherever your tryout station is, you could have a small diagram displayed there that explains the basic knobs on amps, guitars, and pedals, so people who know less don’t feel like they have to ask for help when they might be too intimidated to do so.
Those are some very simple ways that you can help make your tryouts a little bit more comfortable for folks— reducing the gear panopticon effect, stereotype threat, and imposter syndrome for your customers.