On "effeminate":

In general, I understand "X is effeminate" to mean "X is something that
ought to be very rugged, aggressive, boisterous, and generally manly, but
instead is weak, soft, frilly, and generally something that only women
would like, and therefore is to be spurned by all real he-men." (Of course,
it also serves as a code-word for "homosexual," but I'm not sure that that
applies to the case in which the word is used to describe Mozart's music).

In other words, the implication is that Mozart should have written music
that, to the listener, would sound rougher, tougher and altogether more
male-like.  Why? Perhaps just because he was a man.  In any case, I think
the mark of a sophisticated, mature music listener is the ability to take
any kind of music on its own terms, appreciating what it has to offer and,
if one ultimately decides it is not one's cup of tea, to quietly leave it
for others to appreciate without feeling the urge to put it down in such
immature terms.

Jon Johanning // [log in to unmask]