top actionable steps to fight Gender gap in the arts
“A single issue of All SHE Makes magazine highlights more women artists than a leading art book on the market.”
It’s not a joke or attempt to brag, but rather a sad view of the reality: a single issue of All SHE Makes magazine highlights more women artists than a leading art book on the market. Why? Let’s take a closer look at the problem, see how the data compares to our assumptions, and get some actionable advice we can take today.
If you are JUST seeing news about the gender gap in the arts and want to know, well what's the problem with this gap and is it even real? We made this post just for you.
What is the gender gap and is it real?
Gender gap is when art institutions do not correctly represent the art world by showing predominantly works by one gender. Guess which. The sad part is that the art institutions are very much in the know about the gender gap.
They refuse to publically acknowledge it, because it would require an actionable follow-up from them (which they refuse to do due to beaurocracy. Or laziness). Despite the continuous conversation about making a change, the change has barely been made.
Art institutions continue to re-purpose the same old misinformation without relying on updated and historically accurate representation of artists, therefore, perpetuating the existence of the gender gap.
Let's look at the stats next.
What do studies and stats say?
Is it just a preference of art made by men because they make better art? Actually, completely the opposite. Gender gap exists in all spheres of the art world:
more women graduate with MFA degrees than men, but more men end up in galleries and museums
billions dollar pay gap at auctions
permanent museum collections consist of white male artists
older women artists earn the least
art fairs mostly show male artists
The following info is from the articles linked below.
Not only can people not tell the gender of the artist when shown works they’re not familiar with, they will value a piece of artwork lower if they are told it was created by a woman, even when it was actually created by a genderless AI program. All this suggests the bias is against women, not women’s art.
When men sign a work of art, it increases in value compared to a painting that isn't signed. But when a woman signs a work of art, it decreases in value.
A bestselling art book, often used as a textbook for students, Gombrich's The Story of Art, mentions just one female artist in its 688 pages, according to Mary Ann Sieghart, host of a BBC documentary on the gender gap in art.
Preference for male artwork is a function of gender bias and not differing talent between men and women.
"...Researchers presented a computer-generated artwork to study participants and asked them to rate how much they liked the painting. Half of the participants saw a female name listed as the artist below the work, and half saw a male name. In both cases, the painting was the same, computer-generated painting. Participants who had an interest in art and visited museums gave higher ratings when a male artist was listed."
In a series of behavioral experiments, viewers preferred works by women artists—but assumed works by men were more famous and valuable.
Sources:
Gender discrimination art study
192 billion gender gap in art
Here’s why we like men’s art more than women’s
NMWA fact sheet
What can you do to help?
So what can YOU do to help?
Talk about women artists instead of famous male ones. Enough of Gogh and Picasso. We now know there were others.
Learn about women artists through:
books (check to make sure they publish enough women artists)
local library
youtube videos
podcasts
(shameless plug) our art magazine that ONLY publishes women artists
go to shows that show women artists
Support women artists:
Share art made by women. Find art that inspires you - share it, so that others can learn too!
Give gifts made by women artists.
Ooh, another good idea - make a pinterest board!
Voice your support to galleries and museums that support women artists.
Ask art institutions you visit why there are not enough women artists on display.
And if you happen to forget these, we happen to make you a super cute mug reminder (the list is on the other side of the mug :D
Thank you for staying with us during this campaign. We hope it was helpful, that you learned the main issues behind the gender gap in the arts, and got insightful tips on how to battle them.
Find press release here.
