By Dr. Sandy Geyer
From exclusion to empowerment, a female piper’s journey through the gendered traditions of pipe bands – and how inclusive leadership can shape the future of this ancient art.
“You were born to be a piper.”
That was the message from a close friend when they saw a photo of me performing in May 2025 at a pipe band competition in Johannesburg, South Africa. I was guesting with the Transvaal Scottish Pipes & Drums, South Africa’s premier Grade 2 band. Now living in New Zealand, I play competitively with The Auckland and Districts Pipe Band in Grade 3.
At 55, with decades of piping experience across continents, I recognise both the truth and the struggle in that statement. My journey has been defined by both gentle persuasions and cold hard shoves – and shaped by the deeper cultural paradigms that surround gender, power, and leadership in traditional spaces like pipe bands.
Culture and DNA: The early call of the pipes
Born in Johannesburg in 1970 to a fourth-generation South African family of Scottish, English, Dutch, German, and French descent, the Scots won out and I was immersed in Highland culture from a young age. My grandfather was a piper, and the sound of the pipes settled into my bones long before I ever held a set.
My mother, a Highland dancer, guided me in that direction. Dancing, after all, was what girls did. But after fracturing my coccyx, I could no longer dance so my grandfather began teaching me the pipes instead. I had hoped to learn the drums, something I had seen other girls doing, but piping was what was available, and so began a lifelong path.
Gender and Paradigms: when the pipes are not enough
By the time I entered high school, I already had a repertoire of tunes. I quickly realised, however, that piping ability alone did not guarantee acceptance. I was the only girl playing the pipes, and I didn’t fit the prevailing worldview.
Worldviews, or paradigms, shape how we see value and leadership. In apartheid-era South Africa, both gender and race rigidly determined societal roles. In that context, a girl playing the bagpipes, even if playing them well, was a disruption. Not in the celebratory sense we might now embrace, but as a challenge to the unwritten rules.
Support from progressive teachers allowed me to keep going, but the burden of proof was always mine. I had to justify my place in every circle I entered. At 14, I began competing. When my peers moved on to join the Transvaal Scottish Senior Band, I hoped to do the same. But the drum major placed a firm hand on my shoulder and said, “Young lady, this is not the place for you.”
Exclusion, opportunity, and leadership from the margins
That moment stung, but it also redirected me. I was later invited to join South Africa’s champion senior band at that time, Richmond Avenue, mentored by local tutors who began teaching at my school. When my peers graduated, I was the most proficient piper left and, despite discomfort within the prevailing gender norms, was made pipe major.
It was a leadership opportunity wrapped in skepticism. I was told not to let anyone down. I didn’t. Over my two-year tenure, we rebuilt the band. Significantly, other girls began learning the pipes too, and followed a similar pathway from junior to senior bands.
This is where leadership theory intersects with lived experience. Research shows that visible representation matters: young people are more likely to pursue leadership or mastery when they see someone like them doing it (Eagly & Carli, 2007). I didn’t have a female piper to follow, but I became one that others could.
When acceptance comes with a price
However, inclusion did not mean equality. As I entered adult bands, I was no longer excluded, but I was objectified and sexualised.
As a young woman in a band of older men in 1980s South Africa, I became a target of attention that had little to do with my musicianship. From crude jokes about ball hairs in drone reeds to tunes written and quietly circulated about my sexual appeal, my contribution was viewed through a gendered lens.
This gendered lens also served as a kind of soft discrimination. This is what leadership literature calls “benevolent sexism,” which can be even more disempowering than overt hostility (Glick & Fiske, 1996). I didn’t learn to tune my own pipes early in my piping career as my male peers did, because I was constantly “helped.”
Even decades later, when I resumed piping in New Zealand in 2012, the residue of these dynamics remained. Female pipers were more visible, but often still filtered through aesthetic judgement. Attractive players were admired, but also objectified.
The Cost of Not Belonging: a new generation speaks
At a recent youth piping camp in one of the countries where I compete, over 60% of female participants listed their gender identity as non-binary. Statistically, that’s far higher than the global estimate of 1–2% (The Trevor Project, 2022). This raises an important question: are some girls choosing non-binary identities not purely from gender fluidity, but to escape the burden of being “the girl” in male-dominated spaces?
If so, the problem is not theirs to fix. It is ours to recognise.
The burden of proof for technical skill may rest with the player. But the burden of respect, inclusion, and professionalism lies with the leadership, and in the pipe band world, that still largely means men.
Power and Paradigm Shifts: what true leadership looks like
Leadership is not about holding power – it’s about how we share it. Leadership research (Northouse, 2021) emphasises that effective leadership empowers others, especially those at the margins. In piping, this means dismantling the old paradigm: one where women are “exceptions,” where attractiveness overshadows artistry, and where inclusion stops short of true equality.
Encouragingly, this is beginning to shift. Across both South Africa and New Zealand, I see pipe majors consciously creating more inclusive cultures. They are not just allowing women to participate; they are inviting them to lead, to compete, and to belong.
As someone who was once told “this is not the place for you,” I now find myself welcomed back into those very circles. That is leadership in motion. That is the power of shifting worldviews.
Looking Ahead: inclusion as sustainability
Pipe bands, like all traditional institutions, face a challenge: how to remain relevant in a world of rapid change and distraction. If we are to attract new players, particularly young ones – we must ensure they see a future for themselves. That future must include visibility, respect, and freedom from sexualisation or bias. This is a big call. Research tell us that that bias is wired within all of us from birth as a basic survival mechanism (Bargh, 2017), but how we use it – is by example.
To be what they can see, girls must see women standing tall in the ranks.
I did not have that. But I became that. And I write this as a call to others, especially male leaders in our bands, to continue to recognise the leadership that lies in invitation, in empowerment, and in paradigm shift.
Let’s honour the music we all love by ensuring that every player, regardless of gender, is valued for their skill—not their biology.
Dr. Sandy Geyer is an author, educator, business leader and competitive piper living in New Zealand. She holds a doctorate in entrepreneurial leadership preparation (DPP) and works internationally in leadership development for students, teachers, and business owners.
References
- Bargh, J. A. (2017). Before you know it: The unconscious reasons we do what we do. New York. Touchstone.
- Eagly, A. H., & Carli, L. L. (2007). Through the Labyrinth: The Truth About How Women Become Leaders. Harvard Business Review Press.
- Glick, P., & Fiske, S. T. (1996). The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Differentiating Hostile and Benevolent Sexism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(3), 491–512.
- Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory and Practice (9th ed.). Sage Publications.
- The Trevor Project. (2022). National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health. https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2022/
Emily Pentz is arguably the top solo piper in the country at the moment. At the 100 Guineas in 2025 she came overall second to Brian Mulhearn, and won the senior runner up trophy as well as the following: Senior March, Best piper under 30, Best Military Piper and Best piper 18-21 years.