Women in the Arts

Is there a need for books about women in the arts, exhibitions of women painters, readings of women’s poetry, concerts of music by women composers, and conferences highlighting women in the arts? One might believe that, today, the playing field is level, but categories still place the word “woman” before the discipline: woman composer, woman poet, woman artist, and so on. The ultimate goal is to move the debate away from gender categories which reinforce the notion that men’s creativity is not only the norm but better. There are many women challenging the status quo, and succeeding. Change comes slowly since many men and some women in positions of power do not see gender stereotyping as a problem.

It’s been nearly a millennium since Hildegard von Bingen composed music and illuminated manuscripts. Shouldn’t the time when it was unusual to be a “woman composer” have past? As the great 20th century pedagogue and composer Nadia Boulanger said, “I've been a woman for a little over 50 years and have gotten over my initial astonishment. As for conducting an orchestra, that’s a job where I don’t think sex plays much part.”

Indeed, books like Women in the Arts: Eccentric Essays II serve to bring society just a little closer to equality by keeping the accomplishments of women at the forefront of consciousness. Technology today is a great asset in documenting the productivity of women, and all artistic creations can be codified and archived, in contrast to earlier times when creative women’s birth and death dates are unknown, not even taking into account all their lost creations.

The essays contained in Women in the Arts: Eccentric Essays II reflect the lives of creative artists, whether they are teachers, scholars and researchers recovering previous generations of women artists, or practicing artists creating new masterpieces. The promotion of the roles of women in the arts is integral, so that they may serve as a resource for future generations of students, scholars and researchers, and to enhance generations to come, enriching culture through the arts.