ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the intersection of age and gender in the reception of female composers, student and professional, in the Forum. It analyses the reception of female composers within the context of the Great Depression and addresses the interlocking systems of oppression of gender and age, as well as other factors such as marital status and musical style. The harshest, most sarcastic comments were reserved for those women composing in an ultra-modernist style. It explores comments by Forum director Ashley Pettis, by composers and by audience members that show an at times hyper-awareness of age. Female students experienced a unique reception in the Forum, treated differently from both their male counterparts and the professional female composers. The Composers' Forum certainly organised programmes by age. Finally, it considers the reasons behind the sharp decline in female representation during the later seasons of the Forum, and the different impacts that decline had based on age and professional status.
