Many so-called traditionalist musicologists and music educators would agree that one of the aims of education in democratic society should be to assist students, regardless of gender, class, ethnicity, or culture, and to the extent that it is possible, to construct their own musical and other differences free from excessive coercion. However, radical feminist and other contemporary critics are mistaken if they think that personal and musical identity is something that can be constructed in a power vacuum. What is needed if students are to contribute to public discourse about the nature and value of music, and, to the extent it is possible, to develop their own musical voices--if they are to rise above mere self-interest and the uncritical acceptance of ideology while learning to work together in an atmosphere of mutual respect--is the development and exercise of public reason. The aim of education is to alter students by developing their ability to reason, which, in the broadest possible terms means to equip them to make sense of the social, cultural, and physical worlds in which they live. Students must be given space in which to exercise their musical freedom and imagination in the construction of personal identity, but they must also be made to realize that, like democracy, personal musical empowerment and identity are achievements that must be won and constantly defended in the public realm through the exercise of reason (among other things). (Contains 56 notes.)