According to musicologist Susan McClary, not only is the sonata sexist, misogynistic and imperialistic, but “tonality itself – with its process of instilling expectations and subsequently withholding promised fulfillment until climax – is the principal musical means during the period from 1600 to 1900 for arousing and channeling desire.” As such, McClary interprets the sonata as being rooted in constructions of gender and sexual identity.
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This sort of thing is the main reason why I don't take "X theory" social analysis seriously, especially where X="feminist".
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