「音樂」在教育上具有教化人心之功用，也是呈現當代社會訊息的重要工具。當人們在欣賞各類音樂的同時，聆賞者也在無形中被其中所傳達的思想、文化所影響。在觀察音樂的發展過程中，不難發現：有很長一段的時間，古典音樂界是以男性作曲家的活動為主，女性音樂家的角色和地位，一直要到了近代才獲得重視，並開始有一些學者投入與女性音樂家相關的研究。在西洋流行樂壇，女性音樂人在不同時期也都發揮了影響力，甚至帶領出創新的社會及文化風潮。因此，音樂的發展脈絡中可以讓我們從中觀察到女性在不同時期的角色及定位。有鑑於根源於西方的「女性主義」是以女性的角度與經驗，來進行相關的社會性理論、批判和運動，因此如何對音樂發展中所呈顯的性別議題，由「女性主義」的觀點來進行研究與討論，是音樂教育界所應重視的問題。 本文之主旨為探討音樂發展中所隱含之女性主義及其相關意涵，並由古典與流行音樂的發展脈絡中，以「女性主義」為觀點，來探究在不同時期女性音樂家的角色與地位、分析與了解女性音樂人與當代社會間之關係。全文將先由女性主義的定義與相關意涵、女性主義的起源與發展、古典音樂的發展與女性主義、西洋流行音樂中的女性主義等方面先進行探討，最後針對國內教育界如何由音樂的發展脈絡中，來認識女性主義的內涵，並關注與女性相關的議題等方面，提出結論與建議。

Music is an important tool in reflecting the state of humanity as well as society. People are influenced by the music they listen to, whether emotionally or unconsciously. A glance throughout our music history reveals the heavy ratio of male performers and composers within the musical world. It was not until recently that females began to emerge onto the musical scene. The importance of female musicians and their influence on culture can be seen in western popular music. Moreover, we can observe the positions of female musicians spanning across different periods, whether in public or private. To understand those roles, we must first understand gender issues that plagued them. Feminism is based on female perception of the world, and it is through those lenses that we will commence our exploration. The purpose of this paper is to study the role of females and related theories in musical development. This paper will discuss the definition of feminism, the origin and growth of feminism, feminism is classical music, and feminism in popular music. Finally, the paper will conclude with the importance of recognizing female musicians.