As a woman, I am mindful of the need to avoid putting Jewish men in inevitable situations of kol isha (hearing a woman's singing voice). However, I have heard many interpretations of this law, and I don't know which one(s) people actually follow.
Are the majority of mainstream Orthodox men machmir about a) hearing groups of (3+) women; b) hearing women in recordings...or both, or neither? In the interests of avoiding the serious aveira of lifnei iver, should women always assume they are (or should be) machmir about both?
Answer
Depends where on the Orthodox spectrum.
I'd say the vast majority of college-educated men will be lenient on recorded music, at least if stuck in such a situation. (R' Ovadiah Yosef zt'l also explicitly ruled leniently on recorded music, unless it's someone you know personally.)
As for groups of women singing -- the Seridei Aish defended the practice that had been common in Berlin of women joining in with the singing of Zemiros at the shabbos table. If it was a group of only women singing (e.g. at a shabbos kallah), my impression is a lot more people would be uncomfortable with that.
Here's a very rough sociological rule of thumb among shomer shabbos men:
- College degree? Probably okay with recorded kol isha.
- Wears a wedding band all the time? Probably okay with women singing along at the shabbos table, or in shul.
- Wife doesn't cover her hair? Probably okay going to musicals or the opera.
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