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Analyzing Gender Inequality in Contemporary Opera

LaBonte, Hillary
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1562758176443906

Abstract Details

2019, Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA), Bowling Green State University, Contemporary Music.
Gender inequality is pervasive in the world of performing arts. There are far more female dancers, actresses, and singers than there are male performers. This inequality is amplified by fewer numbers of roles for women. This document examines gender inequality in contemporary North American operas, including the various factors that can influence the gender balance of a cast, with focused studies on commissioning organizations and ten works that feature predominantly female casts. Chapter 1 presents the analysis of all operas in OPERA America’s North American Works database written and premiered from 1995 to the present. Of the 4,216 roles in this data, 1,842 (43.6%) are for female singers. Operas written by a female composer or librettist have 48% roles for female singers, operas with a female lead character have 51%, and intentionally feminist or female-focused operas have 53% roles for female singers. Chapter 2 considers ten companies devoted to the creation and production of contemporary opera in North America. Works premiered by these companies have an average of 47% roles for women, and companies with a female executive or founder are more likely to have a higher average. Companies that use language like “innovative” or “adventurous” in their mission statement are more likely to have greater female representation in the casts of their commissioned works. Chapter 3 discusses ten contemporary operas that feature at least 50% female casts in a wide variety of stories, with multi-layered female characters and diverse musical styles. The works profiled are Hildegurls Electric Ordo Virtutum (1998) by Kitty Brazelton, Eve Beglarian, Elaine Kaplinsky, and Lisa Bielawa, Amy Beth Kirsten’s Ophelia Forever (2005), Catherine Reid and Judith Lane’s The Yellow Wallpaper (2008), Ana Sokolovic’s Svadba (2011), Errollyn Wallen’s ANON (2014), Kate Soper’s Here Be Sirens (2014), Kamala Sankaram and Susan Yankowitz’s Thumbprint (2014), Sean Ellis Hussey’s …for the sake of a narrative closure (2017), Ellen Reid and Roxie Perkins’s prism (2018), and Philip Venables and Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis (2018). These operas contain the kinds of female characters and female-focused stories missing from the traditional repertoire.
Jane Rodgers, DMA (Advisor)
Kristen Rudisill, PhD (Other)
Kevin Bylsma, MM (Committee Member)
Ryan Ebright, PhD (Committee Member)
Emily Brown, PhD (Committee Member)
135 p.
Music; Performing Arts
Gender inequality; feminism; equal rights; contemporary opera; opera companies

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • LaBonte, H. (2019). Analyzing Gender Inequality in Contemporary Opera [Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1562758176443906

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • LaBonte, Hillary. Analyzing Gender Inequality in Contemporary Opera. 2019. Bowling Green State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1562758176443906.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • LaBonte, Hillary. "Analyzing Gender Inequality in Contemporary Opera." Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1562758176443906

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2019, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.