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GorillagirlsRachelStatz

I first heard about the Guerilla Girls from one of my high school art teachers. She explained to us that they were artists who did projects to raise awareness about sexism in the art world, and that they always wore guerilla masks to hide their identities from those who opposed them. At the time, I didn’t really understand why there were still groups actively opposing sexing; I thought sexism had for the most part ended in the 20s when women earned the right to vote.

Since this time, I’ve completely changed my mind. After taking a women gender studies class, doing independent research for papers, and simply paying more attention to inter-gender interactions among my friends, it’s pretty clear to me that there are still distinct differences in how men and women are treated and thought of.
One day before my WGS class, my professor went to hallmark and bought 10 randomly selected baby cards- 5 for girls, and 5 for boys. As she read them during class, we all quickly heard huge differences between the girls’ and boys’ cards. All of the girl’s cards declared them as adorable, precious, or cute, while cards for boys described them as being rowdy, curious, or thoughtful. This alone shows how our expectations for women differ greatly from those for men. Why were all the descriptions listed for girls related to their physical traits, whereas the boys were praised for their actions and intelligence? Why aren’t there cards for the baby girls who are thoughtful and curious? I guess the card-makers don’t even consider that as a possibility- girls aren’t intelligent... they’re just pretty. I thought of this when I saw this Guerilla Girls’ poster:



In relation to this, it’s always annoyed me how women are used in advertising so frequently.. You see waaaay more partially naked women during tv commercials than men. Not only is this enforcing the idea that it’s essential for women to look good, but it also implies that the primary audience is males. Most women aren’t that interested in seeing naked women, so these commercials are obviously targeting men. The same is true for the artworks displayed in museums. By having so many nude paintings of women, it implies that the most important audience is the men.

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