But is it art-gender

But is it Art? Questions of Gender Question Gender, as the term is used throughout this chapter, seems to allude to the physical sex of the individual, whether they are male or female, as the author continues to refer to the gender of the artist as something different from their sexuality (gay or not gay). For example, early in the chapter, she asks, “ Is gender relevant to art – to work an artist makes, or to meaning? What about sexual orientation?” (123). This use of the term seems to be relatively universal within the discussion as the author also refers to other books that use the term in this way, such as Gender and Genius written by Christine Battersby arguing about how the term genius came to be applied to men only and Gender and the Musical Canon by Marcia J. Citron in arguing why the female composer has been left out of academic texts recognizing the brilliant composers of history. It is presented as something different from sexual orientation as examples of Maplethorpe and the at least partially homoerotic depictions of Leonardo and Michelangelo are described. However, it is also used to apply to the images of art as being gendered. For example, the author talks about the image of flowers being primarily the subject of female artists while the images of people and historic events are the province of men, thus introducing gender into the very subject of the paintings. As the author points out, though, these definitions are not always as clear as they might seem, indicating the flower paintings of Monet and Van Gogh while also mentioning the restriction on women throughout much of history from participating in art classes that contained nude figures, making classical and historic depictions difficult if not impossible for the female artist.

Question 2:
Why were the Gorilla Girls ads necessary in order to bring female art to the attention of mainstream fine art buyers?
They pointed out the great absence of women in the creative world as creators and writers rather than as subjects to be consumed. In their posters and other publications, they made it clear that there were many more female creators operating in these fields than had been ‘ discovered’ by the established art societies including fine art, theatre and film. They also made it clear that the voices of women can never be heard when translated through the medium of a man’s understanding by illustrating how the sexual imagery of recognized painters such as Georgia O’Keefe are denounced as overly obsessed with the concept of sex while similar imagery by male artists is honored as deeply philosophical, alluding to something greater than mere sex and compelling to the modern audience. This continued tendency to reject or nullify the voices of women required outright warfare, depicted in the Gorilla costumes of the women themselves, in order to gain attention in any way. While the attention may still not be focused where it should be, on the actual contributions of thought and philosophy women can make to society through the creation of their works, it has become more apparent in recent years as a result of this group’s attempts to increase awareness of the prevalent attitudes. Only by making people aware of these attitudes can the attitudes themselves begin to be explored and changed as a result of their inherent fallacies.