Navigating Gender Identity in a Musical Europatriarchy: Stories of Power, Consent, and Silence

The lived experiences of musical women in the Australian classical music institution (ACMI) have long been obscured and our understanding of their professional lives rendered unclear. To understand how they exist within a hierarchical and Europatriarchal culture, this thesis investigates the lived experiences of 20 musical women working in the ACMI. Through a series of life-history interviews, these musicians depicted a Europatriarchal reality that shapes how they are expected to exist within the ACMI. Influenced by power (imbalance), consent(lessness), and silence, these women spoke of the injustices they face in educational and professional performance contexts. Not only do their lived experiences describe these injustices, but they also illuminate possibilities for a more equitable future.