[Nancy Bea Miller]

I appreciated your raising the issue of gender discrimination in the arts. This inequality is hard cold fact: as invidious and pervasive as any other prejudice. There are serious works of scholarship devoted to the issue ("The Obstacle Race", "Old Mistresses" "Anonymous Was a Woman" etc ) and groups which crunch the numbers and keep tracks of the trend (Guerilla Girls, Women in the Arts Foundation, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, etc.) The statistics are still startling!

Like Alex and Suzanne, I never dreamed that I would have to deal with the subject. I do not lack confidence, and felt encouraged by teachers and friends in my choice of career. But even in art school, I began running into little "bumps' in my path that were unexpected. One example: one of the school administrators led a distinguished older gentleman up to me at a student show and introduced us saying to me "Mr. X has just bought your painting of the stack of books." Mr. X visibly started, gulped and blurted out "YOU painted that? Oh, I thought that was by a man!" Seeing the confused and undelighted reaction his words were creating he hastened to reasssure me " Well, my dear, it's simply amazing. You paint like a man!"
He obviously meant this as the highest accolade. But did he ever buy another piece from me? No, he did not.

There were other situations along these lines, but nothing big enough to deter me from my chosen path. Just enough to make me aware that it wasn't quite the level playing field I had imagined. That was about 18 years ago. But only last week I discussed my pricing with someone in charge of such things, wondering out loud why another artist I know of similar "rank and file" is getting significantly more for his work. The answer came, honestly and a little apologetically, "Well, you know of course, part of the problem is that men are still, even today, perceived as the main bread-winners. It is felt that they need to earn more, to support their families."

With this all-pervasive prejudice in place that men are, if not more talented, at least more worthy, this is a self-fulfilling prophecy. However, having said all this, an artist who is a woman can't let these subtle societal inequities deter her. Women do of course succeed, and get ahead. It just seems to me they are fighting against some persistent undercurrents and perhaps are so used to doing so that they may not even realize it. It helps to be aware that these prejudices do exist and to try and not take the subtle set-backs personally: any successes will taste all the sweeter. And of course, there are some women who will never feel the subtle sting of prejudice. There are a lucky few in every generation: often lifted over the obstacles by painter fathers or family friends/connections in the art world. I say more power to them. Just don't let them be used as "evidence" that the very real inequality most women artists face is non-existent.

Thanks again for bringing up this sensitive issue Alex! I know many people might feel shy about expressing their thoughts on the subject, afraid to be seen as "whiners", but my sense is that the SOG forum is a safe place for people to share problems and joys with equal honesty.