When it was originally published in 1991, Feminine Endings was immediately controversial for its unprecedented intermingling of cultural criticism and musical studies, an approach that came to be called the New Musicology. Through case studies of works ranging from the canonical -- operas by Monteverdi and Bizet -- to the contemporary -- the performance art of Diamanda Galas and popular songs by Madonna -- Susan McClary focuses on the ways music produces images of gender, desire, pleasure, and the body, and explores the gender-based metaphors that circulate in discourse about music. The now classic work features a new introduction that discusses the critical reception it received and the debates it has inspired.
