Author: georginie

LSE. Confronting Gender Inequality. London: Gender Institute. 

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This guide, despite being very long, does cover many topics. It takes some time to work through but does raise some useful and interesting points. This guide by LSE doesn’t just look at inequality in the arts but as a whole. Much of the guide isn’t directly applicable to my work but is useful in the wider discipline. 

The guide raises points that women have been the hardest hit by recessions, expectations and work-life balances. There is a gap in pay between men and women, this then causes a gap in pensions. Women are expected to do a high proportion of any caring. The report found that there were no barriers set in stone stopping women accessing anything however the problem comes from structural barriers. They believe that the gendered social norm which are ingrained in our societies are to blame for a lot of the inequality. “The under-representation of women and over-representation of men matters”. 

The guide also puts forward some recommendations to help the inequality. For example, from an economic point of view, there should be a change in macroeconomic policy. In politics, the reintroduction of minimum quotas for women should be implemented. Legally, there should be a better representation of women in employment and politics. In media and culture, an independent committee should keep a check on women’s participation in media productions. 

(LSE; Stewart, G).  

Cowen, T (1996) ‘Why women succeed, and fail, in the arts’ In: Journal of Cultural Economics (vol. 20) pp. 93-113.

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Tyler Cowen looks at the gender inequality in the arts. He raises points that the majority of achievements in the arts have been by men and that art has an economic factor to it. Women often receive lower returns as against men. Cowen puts forward four reasons for this inequality. The first being genetic. That men and women simply have different abilities because of their sex. The second is due to discrimination. Women are hampered by perceptions and beliefs about them, they don’t have the same opportunities as men do. The third option is the maternal side of things. Women are expected to do the majority of the child-rearing and caring responsibilities of the wider family. The last though is parity. Parity is where people disbelieve the inequality. These four reasons behind the inequality are quite simplistic but do raise valid reasons. Personally whilst men and women may have different abilities and visions based on their sex, I do not believe this make one inferior to the other, they are just different. Our whole experiences in our lives mould how we see and do things, so this would also come into play about what art someone produces. Discrimination is a valid point, as women are discriminated in all walks of life, and also the expectations placed on women to do the care work is valid. Parity shouldn’t really be a though but there are people who disbelieve the inequality because they either have the power or are not affected by it. 

Cowen goes on to discuss a brief history of women in art and how many were brought to note because they had artistic partners. He also discusses how discrimination amongst families played a role in influencing women. But when the opportunities arose, women took them. But as Cowen states, “discrimination and lack of training remain formidable obstacles” (Cowen, 1996). 

This articles by Tyler Cowen has been useful in my work as he gives a clear history and brings it up to present day. He found four main reasons for the inequality, whilst they are simplistic, they do form the basis for the inequality we see today. 

(Cowen, 1996; Stewart, G).  

Cencula, M (2020) Pushed, Shoved, and Spit on – What it’s like to be a female photographer at Fashion Week. At: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/fashion/a30706909/female-photographer-fashion-week/ (Accessed on 4th of February 2020).  

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In this article in Cosmopolitan, Megan Cencula talks about her experiences as a female photographer. This article is useful for my work as I can see people’s first hand experiences of inequality. 

“He stood up, towering over me, and shoved me with both hands backward into the riser wall. His face was red, dripping with sweat. “I’m the house photographer, you bitch” he said, spitting on my face”. Cencula said she didn’t want to tell anyone as she didn’t want to cause trouble as she was new. This is a regular occurrences, with many female photographers being shoved, shouted at, and treated appallingly. 

(Cencula, 2020; Stewart, G).  

Pearse, H, A. B. Snider & C. Taylor. ‘The lost Art of Pedagogy’, The Canadian Review of Art Education, vol. 38, pp. 5-16.  

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From a social perspective, pedagogy is a relationship between a teacher and a learner according to Pearse, Snider and Taylor. They see teaching as a ‘performance’. These authors look at art pedagogy and believe recently it has been based solidly on subject matter and not pedagogy. They believe that curriculums have caused teachings to forgot what ‘good teaching is’. They state that ‘pedagogy is a way of being’, so not every teacher would be capable of delivering an effective pedagogical programme. “Pedagogy is at its most powerful when the truly wise serve as teachers to the truly youthful” (Rudolph Arnheim, quoted in Pearse, Snider & Taylor). They believe there is something called ‘pedagogical tact’, which is knowing what is best for each child. 

(Pearse, Snider, Taylor; Stewart, G).  

Ylostalo, H & K. Brunila (2017) ‘Exploring the possibilities of gender equality pedagogy in an era of marketization’, Gender and Education, vol. 30, no. 7, pp. 917-933.  

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This source raises a point about gender equality in Scandinavian countries. They state that this model for education has great benefits and is being used across the world as a model. 

(Ylostalo & Brunila, 2017; Stewart, G).  

Nabbuye, H (2018) Gender-Sensitive Pedagogy: The bridge to girls’ quality education in Uganda. Washington: Brookings Global, pp. 1-19. 

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This work has been useful to me as it discusses the issues with implementing pedagogy. Nabbuye concentrates on education in Uganda. Girls education is different to that of boys. There is a high dropout rate for girls and thus they do not have the skills. The Ugandan Government decided to Try and help this by introducing a gender-sensitive pedagogy. They decided to train the teachers and implement it with the curriculum. They realised that by improving girls education, they can help improve gender inequality. They found over three years things did improve. Enrolment for girls increased to 99%. 

But issues did arise. The teachers failed to administer the new system consistently. Teacher bias came into play here, they have lower expectations of girls and did not feel responsible for bettering a girls empowerment. The findings conclude that a Gender-sensitive will be an important step in helping gender inequality.  

(Nabbuye, 2018; Stewart, G).  

UNESCO (2015) A guide for gender equality in teacher education policy and practices. France: UNESCO, pp. 1-112. 

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UNESCO released a guide for teachers to promote gender inequality in their institutions. This guide has helped my third chapter of my essay for Contextual Studies when I look at pedagogy. 

The guide raises point such as that gender roles Are a learnt behaviour which can be fixed by education and training. The guide looks at the differences in cultures and within different cultures. Cultures and institutions are moulded by the people in charge. 

To help the problem, support is needed. For teachers and for pupils, this way it can help the way teachers approach their students and in turn will help the pupils classroom experience. The problem with a curriculum is that it allows leeway for teachers to bring their own views, prejudices and views, this can have a negative effect on the pupils. Pedagogy will help these issues. Teachers should use gender neutral methods and directives. 

This guides also looks at a study conducted by Grace and Gravestock in 2009. This study looked at gender biases in classrooms. For example male students were given longer to answer a question and teachers would often interrupt female students. 

Gender stereotyping comes into play. Men are seen as active, strong and often rational, this is in contrast to women who are seen as passive, weak and emotional. This studies hopes that teachers will be aware of these issues and try and combat them. They need to stop using judgement in their language and manner. They need to have a fair approach to everyone. “Gender equality needs to become a reality in every learning environment” (UNESCO).

(UNESCO; Stewart, G).  

Nochlin, L (1973) ‘Why have there been no great women artists?’ In: Hess, T. B & E. C. Baker (ed.) Art and Sexual Politics. UK: MacMillan, pp. 1-39.  

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This work by Linda Nochlin has been very useful in my Contextual Studies essay. In my second and third chapter I look at the inequality between male and female artists. It has proved to be a valuable resource. 

Nochlin discusses woman’s position as the “acknowledged outsider” in art with John Stuart Mill stating that we tend to accept what is seen as natural, “everything which is usual appears natural, the subjection of women to men being a universal custom, any departure from it quire naturally appears unnatural” (Mill Quoted in Nochlin, 1973). This is a good point which can help explain why inequality has taken such a hold, but it is seen as a natural division. “Those who have privileges inevitably hold on to them, and hold tight, no matter how marginal the advantage involved, until compelled to bow to superior power of one sort or another” (Nochlin, 1973). This statement is key, as it can help understand why men in power deny that there is an inequality, as they want to hold onto their advantage. They will fight to keep their influence and power.

Nochlin believes experience will lead to the production of different art by men and women. There has also been a misunderstanding of what femininity is. She also states that women are worked against from when they are born (Nochlin, 1973). This makes sense, as much of the inequality we see is deeply engrained in society so would affect women from birth. 

(Nochlin, 1973; Stewart, G).  

Mulvey, L (2007) ‘Visual pleasure and narrative cinema’ In: Evans, J and S. Hall (ed.) Visual Culture: A Reader. UK: Sage Publications Ltd, pp. 381-389.  

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Laura Mulvey looks at the male gaze and how dangerous it can be. The male gaze originates from cinema. Mulvey discus scopophilla which denotes the pleasure in looking. She looks at Freud’ work in this field. It is seen as ownership, where one believes the other belongs to them as an object. It is part of the ego and can develop further. Mulvey believes that the cinema provides a perfect place for the pleasure of looking. Jacques Lacan looks At how children see their own images in a mirror, and believes this is an aspect of the ego (Mulvey, 2007). 

There are two types of pleasure found in looking. The pleasure found in using a person as an object through visual means is the first. The second is found in narcissism and the ego, this is where someone identifies with the image they see. Visual pleasure in found between the active male and the passive female. The male gaze is able to embedded their fantasy to the woman. Men have the power here (Mulvey, 2007). 

For my contextual studies essay, this is a valuable sources. At some points I found it a struggle to make sense but I persevered with it. Mulvey pinpoints the gaze in cinema. It would be interesting to see how this translates into other areas. This is something I could develop for my Contextual Studies work, as Mulvey’s work is very relevant to my field but I could extend this though into other areas, for example the male gaze in landscape photography (Mulvey, 2007).

(Mulvey, 2007; Stewart, G).