Voicing the Third Gender – The Castrato Voice and the Stigma of Emasculation in Eighteenth-century Society

The golden days of vocal castrati lasted from c. 1650 -1750, when opera buffa, reform opera, and Enlightenment ideas about ‘the sound’ and ‘natural’, made the ‘unnatural’ and ‘unsound’ voice of the castrati obsolete. This article will investigate the castrato voice in eighteenth-century music on a s...

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Main Author:	Marianne Tråvén
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Institut du Monde Anglophone 2016-06-01
Series:	Etudes Epistémè
Subjects:	Castrati voice gender stigma opera
Online Access:	http://journals.openedition.org/episteme/1220

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spelling	doaj-26c9acb4a0af47d6ab75b2ad6675aeef2020-11-24T22:08:45ZengInstitut du Monde AnglophoneEtudes Epistémè1634-04502016-06-012910.4000/episteme.1220Voicing the Third Gender – The Castrato Voice and the Stigma of Emasculation in Eighteenth-century SocietyMarianne TråvénThe golden days of vocal castrati lasted from c. 1650 -1750, when opera buffa, reform opera, and Enlightenment ideas about ‘the sound’ and ‘natural’, made the ‘unnatural’ and ‘unsound’ voice of the castrati obsolete. This article will investigate the castrato voice in eighteenth-century music on a scale from sound to unsound, using contemporary statements. It will explore the castrato voice, the vocal ideals that led to their fame and downfall, and also reveal the stigma that adhered to their presence in society, barring them from a normal social life. It will consider how the contemporaries of castrati viewed them on a scale from male to female and explain the reasons for categorizing them as a third gender.http://journals.openedition.org/episteme/1220Castrativoicegenderstigmaopera
collection	DOAJ
language	English
format	Article
sources	DOAJ
author	Marianne Tråvén
spellingShingle	Marianne Tråvén Voicing the Third Gender – The Castrato Voice and the Stigma of Emasculation in Eighteenth-century Society Etudes Epistémè Castrati voice gender stigma opera
author_facet	Marianne Tråvén
author_sort	Marianne Tråvén
title	Voicing the Third Gender – The Castrato Voice and the Stigma of Emasculation in Eighteenth-century Society
title_short	Voicing the Third Gender – The Castrato Voice and the Stigma of Emasculation in Eighteenth-century Society
title_full	Voicing the Third Gender – The Castrato Voice and the Stigma of Emasculation in Eighteenth-century Society
title_fullStr	Voicing the Third Gender – The Castrato Voice and the Stigma of Emasculation in Eighteenth-century Society
title_full_unstemmed	Voicing the Third Gender – The Castrato Voice and the Stigma of Emasculation in Eighteenth-century Society
title_sort	voicing the third gender – the castrato voice and the stigma of emasculation in eighteenth-century society
publisher	Institut du Monde Anglophone
series	Etudes Epistémè
issn	1634-0450
publishDate	2016-06-01
description	The golden days of vocal castrati lasted from c. 1650 -1750, when opera buffa, reform opera, and Enlightenment ideas about ‘the sound’ and ‘natural’, made the ‘unnatural’ and ‘unsound’ voice of the castrati obsolete. This article will investigate the castrato voice in eighteenth-century music on a scale from sound to unsound, using contemporary statements. It will explore the castrato voice, the vocal ideals that led to their fame and downfall, and also reveal the stigma that adhered to their presence in society, barring them from a normal social life. It will consider how the contemporaries of castrati viewed them on a scale from male to female and explain the reasons for categorizing them as a third gender.
topic	Castrati voice gender stigma opera
url	http://journals.openedition.org/episteme/1220
work_keys_str_mv	AT mariannetraven voicingthethirdgenderthecastratovoiceandthestigmaofemasculationineighteenthcenturysociety
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Voicing the Third Gender – The Castrato Voice and the Stigma of Emasculation in Eighteenth-century Society

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