ABSTRACT
The National Federation's other 'national' scheme for training conductors was launched at the Music Conference on 16 March 1967 in an attempt to create uniformity during the preparations for the second National Music Festival. The Women's Institute's exclusion from 'mainstream' discussions of feminism happens partly because, until around the late 1980s, case studies of feminist activity in Britain tended to focus on two defining periods: suffrage and the late 1960s. Although the National Federation's policy on conducting did not seek to challenge the gendered spheres of conducting, it should not be concluded from this evidence alone that the Women's Institute entirely rejected attitudes and behaviour patterns that might be described as traditionally feminist. Dismissal of the Women's Institute from discussions not only overlooks its associations with suffrage organizations such as the network of personnel, but also oversimplifies its relationship to feminism. One might view the Women’s Institute’s promotion of conducting as a mode of feminist empowerment for its members.
