One difference between men and women accounts for much--that is the absence of women from the list of canonized artists, writers, etc. It is kind of a predestination, fate-would-have-it situation. Men are preoccupied with instrumentality, with things, with producing, intervening and manipulating in the physical world. This has been termed the "f&^k or fight (testosterone-driven) curse." Women show preferences for the immaterial, relationships, feelings . . . a bringing-towards, closeness, intimacy. Oxytocin's role in maternal behavior and a preference for cooperation over competition seems to be a key ingredient.
Which then is most likely (naturally? predominantly?) to value bringing inanimate artifacts into being? And which is more compelling(?), important(?) for life and survival? In the face of not being able to get pregnant and give birth, the next best contribution (a man can make) is mastering and mimicking and imagining and dictating, or communicating about, an (arguably) valued object realized in practical reality. Thus do men, the argument would go, push and populate the art-object inventories over time. Tools sometimes do have palpable Freudian frequencies!
Which leads me to wonder. If creating a life beautiful is what we are measuring, each woman has the biological and social opportunity to fulfill the creative urge built in. Men have to work at it. Once their job is done, it is done. A woman's creative work continues long after a child comes of age. Can't you still hear your mother's voice in loving guidance?
As we can see today the ascendance of the powerful and rich and the rights of the common, often poor woman, and given arguable definitions of art and artist and putting aside the many complexifications from different perspectives with which to address any question, are there more noted male than noted female contributors in the art worlds today? What are the trends? Are women getting their fair share of representation in museums and galleries?
I am still wondering. In Holland I'm told, there are at least the same number of women as men defined as practicing professional artists. In pop music, whatever the latest style, don't I hear quite a few female artists? At least an equal number to male artists would be my off-hand guesstimate.
Not lastly, isn't the question kind of male-ish? It may not be the right one to ask. Let's ask women what question to ask. Or does male dominance and oppression over the history of humankind say it all?
