“Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists”
In the current context of contribution of literature and arts, there are few women artists than men artists. This differential in participation for these two types gender is substantially worrying. Recent studies show that the real reason why the women are not seen in the limelight in terms of great artists is because of their gender placement in the society. Feminism is one of the bone of contention that tries to derail the connotation of profound greatness in the field of art by these women. This paper takes keen analysis into this theme with reference to the article “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists” by Linda Nochlin. In this analysis, the paper discusses the main thematic issues that mainly surround women. A discussion on the thesis statement is done to understand the real issues depicted by the article. Additionally, it digresses on the substantial evidence that backs up this thesis statement with respect to the need to analyze the whole context of feminism.
The article by Linda gives a comprehensive discussion on the real matters at a hand that affects the women that makes them not be great in the realm of art. the article accentuates that in most cases, the placement of women in the society and the notion of feminism are some of the reasons why the there are no great women artists. The greatness here is linked to the skills of writing and crafting of ideas across the board (Nochlin, 5). The main thesis of this piece is the why great women artists are hard to come by in both the ancient and the contemporary world. The postulation of the superiority of any art lies within the feelings and the experience one has had over the subject at hand and how they use these experiences to gain the attention of the audience.
The character and the lifestyle of women has been one of the main reasons why they don’t perform well in this part of literature. The article accentuates that the fact that women are good at doing lesser things in the community as depicted by the various impediments of culture. It is indeed quite important to understand the true nature of women placement in the society. The fact that male chauvinism is at the forefront of deprivation of women greatness is disputed by this article. The male counterparts are only seen to excel in this field sue to the shear hard work that they put into the various field of art. The fact that the societal norms dictates and controls a lot about women’s activities, the women have had little experience to share about their lives. The author goes ahead to accentuate the fact the most female artists like Sontag are deemed to be great due to the kind of hard work and effort they place in their pieces of work (Nochlin, 3).
One thing that the author agrees with about the greatness of women in art is that some powerful women artists have not been investigated and appreciated in the social realm. The inadequacy in appreciation is pegged on the fact that these individuals do not have a voice to speak their minds in the public. the intimidation that comes with the societal restrictions have brought this kind lack of confidence in these artists. In a nut shell, Linda does address the issue of women not being great artists due to social constraints and their placement in the society (Butler, 3).
Works cited
Butler, Judith. Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. routledge, 2011.
Nochlin, Linda. “Why have there been no great women artists?.” The feminism and visual culture reader (1971): 229-233.