The flute and women
Historically, women were banned from playing the flute (and other instruments) in some cultures. There is a myth that this is because women were not allowed the show their elbows [1], but this isn’t the truth. Instead, the main reason is that the flute was seen as a masculine instrument. While women did play this instrument, it was not common.
In the early 1800s, one critic thought it was a waste for women to even play flute because it concealed those lips. During the same era, women who played cello (which was rare) sat sidesaddle to the instrument as it seemed improper to straddle the cello.
Ricky O’Bannon
There are a lot of examples of male-dominant objects and ideals that became feminine throughout time. One example is how high heels were originally worn by the men, to signify their power and status. Looking at Louis XIV (the king of France from 1643 to 1715), he wore 4-inch red heels, as red was the most expensive dye. He forced all members of his court to wear the same shoes, and this quickly became a staple of the rich. Afterwards, men of lower status started wearing larger high heels and were soon adopted by women, eventually changing into the feminine object of today.
Comparing this with the flute, most definitely something similar happened, where it was male-dominated but eventually was picked up by women, and is now a prominently feminine instrument.
Sources
https://historymyths.wordpress.com/tag/did-women-play-flute/