The Quest for Gender Equality

Background Misogyny

› The hatred of women Gender inequality created by the

perception that females are inferior in intelligence and strength

1900 only New Zealand permitted women to vote

Feminism› advocating equal social, political, and

economic rights for men and women

Statistics Women make up 50% of the world

population Women contribute nearly 66% of

working hours (housework included) Women receive only 10% of the world’s

income Women own less than 1% of the

world’s property

Virginia Woolf Early 1900s A Room of One’s Own

› Lesbian themes› Feminist themes

Equal opportunity for education and economic advancement were more important than right to vote

Women must achieve independence from men

Women and WWII WWII provided jobs and

financial independence for many women

Simone de Beauvoir, 1949, The Second Sex› “Myth of femininity” –

the false and disempowering idea that women are preordained to be subordinate to men

› Women as “the other sex”

The 1960s Betty Friedan (1963),

The Feminine Mystique› American society had

brainwashed women to prefer the role of wife and mother

› Attacked Freud’s view of women as failed men

› Encouraged women to seek careers outside the house

The 1960s National

Organization for Women (NOW)

Sexual Revolution Birth Control

Feminist Art

Niki De Saint PhalleBlack Venus1965 – 1967Painted Polyester

Judy ChicagoThe Dinner Party1974 – 1979Multimedia

Ana MendietaTree of Life from the Silvetas series1977Color photograph

Cindy ShermanUntitled #2761993Color Photograph

Cindy ShermanUntitled #2241990$384,000Christie’s New YorkMay 17, 2007

Barbara KrugerUntitled (“Your body is a battleground”)1989Photographic silkscreen on vinyl

Robert MapplethorpeLisa Lyon1982Silver gelatin print