1) The document summarizes a symposium organized by Arts Council England to raise awareness of gender equality issues in the arts.
2) The keynote speaker, Dr. Alicia Foster, discussed how patriarchal establishments in the arts force women to choose between their art and lives, perpetuating inequality.
3) Subsequent panels and discussions explored the intersections of gender with other identities and issues, like ethnicity, disability, media representation, and how discrimination cannot be addressed through single issues alone.
(Brain) Power Breakfast with CreatequityShawn Lent
http://createquity.com/
Each year since 2013, Createquity has taken a moment to gather its globally dispersed editorial team all in one place for an intense session of planning, discussion, and camaraderie. The 2017 Createquity Annual Retreat will take place in Boston, and to celebrate, we’d like to invite you to a presentation and discussion of what Createquity has learned from our efforts to understand the arts ecosystem over the past three years – and what we’ve learned about learning itself. Please join us for:
(Brain) Power Breakfast with Createquity
Monday, August 7, 2017
9:30 – 11:00 AM
Northeastern Crossing
1175 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02120
Northeastern Crossing is easily accessible via the Ruggles MBTA Station.
The program will include introductory remarks from Createquity, the official presentation of the first-ever winner of the Createquity Arts Research Prize (!!), and a series of lightning presentations summarizing and synthesizing Createquity’s in-depth research on a number of pressing issues in arts and culture. Afterwards, we will host a facilitated discussion inviting audience members to reflect on what we’ve learned about the arts ecosystem, what we still need to know, and how we might go about building that knowledge. Ample time for networking and complimentary coffee and pastries will be provided.
This presentation, given at the 6th Global Symposium on Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries (GAF6), discussed a recent paper by Elisabeth Pruegl (“Neoliberalism with a feminist face: Crafting a new hegemony at the World Bank,” Feminist Economics, 2016) on the World Bank’s approaches to gender equality. Starting in 2001, empirical attempts to establish that economic growth and gender equality (and poverty reduction) were positively correlated produced mixed results: some studies supported the correlation, others contradicted it or gave ambivalent answers. The Bank then turned to micro-level studies, e.g., of institutions such as markets that had failed women. Should women be changed or markets and other social institutions be changed? The presentations at GAF6 reflected some of the possible answers to these questions. If women are considered unequal because of their different endowments, overcoming the gender gap with interventions to help women to compete can help, as illustrated by the participatory projects described by Supaporn Anuchiracheeva in the Earth Net Foundation, Thailand, and the Myanmar agribusiness skills training described by Ram Bhujel. Many presentations also addressed giving women greater voice, rights and negotiating power. Roel Bosma concluded that mass media communication needs to be used to enhance profound changes in norms, values and attitudes of men, before gender equality can be reached. Conversely, GAF6 participants often talked about markets and the economy as absolutes, e.g., lamenting but not challenging the low prices women receive in wages, and accepting the fish price as a financial fact, rather than as a constructed negotiable factor. Pruegl concluded that the World Bank’s emerging “modified kind of neoliberalism produces substantial openings” because it starts to address also the “coercively gendered institutions” previously treated as private, such as the family and care giving. In the new approach, the actors may become more embodied, less abstract. Susana Siar’spresentations on Costa Rica cockle harvesters and Amonrat Sermwatanakul’s social media marketing of Siamese fighting fish both revealed the embodied power of women’s agency. As fisheries and aquaculture are certainly about markets, and many at GAF6 stressed the need for a fish value chain approach, making markets for fish, for labor, enterprises, etc., work for women appear as worthwhile spaces for research and action in achieving gender equality.
(Brain) Power Breakfast with CreatequityShawn Lent
http://createquity.com/
Each year since 2013, Createquity has taken a moment to gather its globally dispersed editorial team all in one place for an intense session of planning, discussion, and camaraderie. The 2017 Createquity Annual Retreat will take place in Boston, and to celebrate, we’d like to invite you to a presentation and discussion of what Createquity has learned from our efforts to understand the arts ecosystem over the past three years – and what we’ve learned about learning itself. Please join us for:
(Brain) Power Breakfast with Createquity
Monday, August 7, 2017
9:30 – 11:00 AM
Northeastern Crossing
1175 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02120
Northeastern Crossing is easily accessible via the Ruggles MBTA Station.
The program will include introductory remarks from Createquity, the official presentation of the first-ever winner of the Createquity Arts Research Prize (!!), and a series of lightning presentations summarizing and synthesizing Createquity’s in-depth research on a number of pressing issues in arts and culture. Afterwards, we will host a facilitated discussion inviting audience members to reflect on what we’ve learned about the arts ecosystem, what we still need to know, and how we might go about building that knowledge. Ample time for networking and complimentary coffee and pastries will be provided.
This presentation, given at the 6th Global Symposium on Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries (GAF6), discussed a recent paper by Elisabeth Pruegl (“Neoliberalism with a feminist face: Crafting a new hegemony at the World Bank,” Feminist Economics, 2016) on the World Bank’s approaches to gender equality. Starting in 2001, empirical attempts to establish that economic growth and gender equality (and poverty reduction) were positively correlated produced mixed results: some studies supported the correlation, others contradicted it or gave ambivalent answers. The Bank then turned to micro-level studies, e.g., of institutions such as markets that had failed women. Should women be changed or markets and other social institutions be changed? The presentations at GAF6 reflected some of the possible answers to these questions. If women are considered unequal because of their different endowments, overcoming the gender gap with interventions to help women to compete can help, as illustrated by the participatory projects described by Supaporn Anuchiracheeva in the Earth Net Foundation, Thailand, and the Myanmar agribusiness skills training described by Ram Bhujel. Many presentations also addressed giving women greater voice, rights and negotiating power. Roel Bosma concluded that mass media communication needs to be used to enhance profound changes in norms, values and attitudes of men, before gender equality can be reached. Conversely, GAF6 participants often talked about markets and the economy as absolutes, e.g., lamenting but not challenging the low prices women receive in wages, and accepting the fish price as a financial fact, rather than as a constructed negotiable factor. Pruegl concluded that the World Bank’s emerging “modified kind of neoliberalism produces substantial openings” because it starts to address also the “coercively gendered institutions” previously treated as private, such as the family and care giving. In the new approach, the actors may become more embodied, less abstract. Susana Siar’spresentations on Costa Rica cockle harvesters and Amonrat Sermwatanakul’s social media marketing of Siamese fighting fish both revealed the embodied power of women’s agency. As fisheries and aquaculture are certainly about markets, and many at GAF6 stressed the need for a fish value chain approach, making markets for fish, for labor, enterprises, etc., work for women appear as worthwhile spaces for research and action in achieving gender equality.
Article: Strategising for Gender Equality in the 21st CenturyGender at Work .
Joanne Sandler & Aruna Rao (2012): The elephant in the room and the dragons at the gate: strategising for gender equality in the 21st century, Gender & Development
Examining the Demographic and Socio Economic Differentials in Commuting A Rev...ijtsrd
The phenomenon of commuting is largely selective in nature and there is more or less paucity of commuting by a certain segment of population with particular demographic, economic or social traits i.e. age, sex, education, marriage, occupation, income, caste race and religion, etc. . As a general assumption, the males, adults, and the married people are likely more to commute and those with low level of education, medium level of income and with skilled professions, though, the demographic and socio economic differentials in commuting may vary in developed and developing societies depending on their distinct socio economic structure. Commuting selectivity process poses the impacts on both sending and receiving areas. The commuting of workforce with particular qualifications to a region increases the number of that trait in particular area and decreases the number of that segments in dispatching area. Likewise, commuters with high skill of technology and education also diffuse them in their place of work, which later become the base for the development of that particular region. Nazish Naz "Examining the Demographic and Socio-Economic Differentials in Commuting: A Review of Literature" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-4 | Issue-6 , October 2020, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd33540.pdf Paper Url: https://www.ijtsrd.com/humanities-and-the-arts/geography/33540/examining-the-demographic-and-socioeconomic-differentials-in-commuting-a-review-of-literature/nazish-naz
Gender At Work's associates recommend ten books and articles that have moved them personally, deepened their insight and are incredibly relevant to the organization's work.
Human Rights, Gender Equality, and the Question of Justice: A Re-Examination ...IJAEMSJORNAL
Traditional cultural practices reflect the values and beliefs held by members of a community for periods of time. Every social grouping in the world has specific traditional cultural practices and beliefs, some of which are beneficial to all members, while others have become harmful to a specific group, such as women. These harmful and, sometimes, discriminatory traditional practices include early and forced marriages, virginity testing, widow’s ritual, female genital mutilation, the primogeniture rule, and witch-hunting. Despite their harmful nature and their violation of national and international human rights laws, such practices persist because they are not questioned or challenged and therefore take on an aura of morality in the eyes of those practicing them. The purpose of this study is to discuss the impact of culture, tradition, customs, and law on gender equality in Africa. Applying the critical and analytic methods in philosophy, the study observes that law reform and development have traditionally focused on state legal institutions to the exclusion of customary legal system, and that where the courts had an opportunity to develop the customary legal system they either reinforced archaic customary laws or imposed Western ideology. This study further investigates, by means of interview in Nsukka part of Igbo-Africa, how ordinary men and women in Africa understand women’s right, and how their attitudes are tied to local conception of masculinity. The investigation reveals that a new configuration of gender relations is evident in Africa – one that accommodates some aspects of women’s rights while retaining previous notions of innate male authority. It concludes by showing that harmful traditional practices are unjust as they violate women’s human rights (guaranteed in the Constitution), perpetuate the inequalities between women and men, and contribute to extreme poverty that government should fight to eradicate. Man and woman have the same dignity and are of equal value ontologically, and as such, we recommend that different African societies should uphold this ontological equality and dignity while socially constructing gender.
Article: Strategising for Gender Equality in the 21st CenturyGender at Work .
Joanne Sandler & Aruna Rao (2012): The elephant in the room and the dragons at the gate: strategising for gender equality in the 21st century, Gender & Development
Examining the Demographic and Socio Economic Differentials in Commuting A Rev...ijtsrd
The phenomenon of commuting is largely selective in nature and there is more or less paucity of commuting by a certain segment of population with particular demographic, economic or social traits i.e. age, sex, education, marriage, occupation, income, caste race and religion, etc. . As a general assumption, the males, adults, and the married people are likely more to commute and those with low level of education, medium level of income and with skilled professions, though, the demographic and socio economic differentials in commuting may vary in developed and developing societies depending on their distinct socio economic structure. Commuting selectivity process poses the impacts on both sending and receiving areas. The commuting of workforce with particular qualifications to a region increases the number of that trait in particular area and decreases the number of that segments in dispatching area. Likewise, commuters with high skill of technology and education also diffuse them in their place of work, which later become the base for the development of that particular region. Nazish Naz "Examining the Demographic and Socio-Economic Differentials in Commuting: A Review of Literature" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-4 | Issue-6 , October 2020, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd33540.pdf Paper Url: https://www.ijtsrd.com/humanities-and-the-arts/geography/33540/examining-the-demographic-and-socioeconomic-differentials-in-commuting-a-review-of-literature/nazish-naz
Gender At Work's associates recommend ten books and articles that have moved them personally, deepened their insight and are incredibly relevant to the organization's work.
Human Rights, Gender Equality, and the Question of Justice: A Re-Examination ...IJAEMSJORNAL
Traditional cultural practices reflect the values and beliefs held by members of a community for periods of time. Every social grouping in the world has specific traditional cultural practices and beliefs, some of which are beneficial to all members, while others have become harmful to a specific group, such as women. These harmful and, sometimes, discriminatory traditional practices include early and forced marriages, virginity testing, widow’s ritual, female genital mutilation, the primogeniture rule, and witch-hunting. Despite their harmful nature and their violation of national and international human rights laws, such practices persist because they are not questioned or challenged and therefore take on an aura of morality in the eyes of those practicing them. The purpose of this study is to discuss the impact of culture, tradition, customs, and law on gender equality in Africa. Applying the critical and analytic methods in philosophy, the study observes that law reform and development have traditionally focused on state legal institutions to the exclusion of customary legal system, and that where the courts had an opportunity to develop the customary legal system they either reinforced archaic customary laws or imposed Western ideology. This study further investigates, by means of interview in Nsukka part of Igbo-Africa, how ordinary men and women in Africa understand women’s right, and how their attitudes are tied to local conception of masculinity. The investigation reveals that a new configuration of gender relations is evident in Africa – one that accommodates some aspects of women’s rights while retaining previous notions of innate male authority. It concludes by showing that harmful traditional practices are unjust as they violate women’s human rights (guaranteed in the Constitution), perpetuate the inequalities between women and men, and contribute to extreme poverty that government should fight to eradicate. Man and woman have the same dignity and are of equal value ontologically, and as such, we recommend that different African societies should uphold this ontological equality and dignity while socially constructing gender.
Gender Equality and Gender Inequality Free Essay Example. Gender Inequality | Researchomatic - Thesis statement worksheet answers .... Income Inequality Essay | Essay on Income Inequality for Students and .... ≫ Different Views on Inequality Free Essay Sample on Samploon.com. Essays On Gender Inequality - Gender Inequality Is The Unequal .... Inequality Essay - Inequality Inequality in an enduring issue that has .... Definition essay: Essay on gender inequality. Inequality Essay. Sample essay on solutions to gender inequality in the workplace. Sample essay on economic gender inequality. Astounding Gender Inequality In The Workplace Essay ~ Thatsnotus. Argumentative essay on gender inequality - Brainly.in. Essay 2 - Global Inequality | ARTS1270 - The Big Picture: An .... Inequality in Modern America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written .... Sample essay on effects of gender inequality in society. The aspects of inequality in school Essay Example | StudyHippo.com. Inequality Essay | Economics - Year 12 HSC | Thinkswap. ≫ Aspects of Inequality in Education Free Essay Sample on Samploon.com. ECOP1003 Essay on Inequality | ECOP1003 - International Economy and .... Word Social Inequality Essay health.docx | Economic Inequality | Class .... [PDF] Essay on how can inequality be tackled in the 21st century?. Gender Inequalities in School Education - Free Essay Example .... Economics: Inequality Essay | Economics - Year 11 HSC | Thinkswap. Unit 12 Essay Inequalities in health 1997 642 - Inequalities in health .... What is Inequality? Give some examples. - A-Level Geography - Marked by .... The Consequences of Inequality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written .... Sample essay on effects of gender inequality on development. Women Inequality Essay Example Free Essay Example. Sample essay on effects of gender inequality in the workplace. Sample essay on economic implications of gender inequality. Income Inequality Essay | Economics - Year 12 HSC | Thinkswap. Essays gender inequality in the workplace. Gender Inequality In The .... Essay on my future - Get Help From Custom College Essay Writing and .... Economic Inequality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays ... Essays On Inequality
A mini-archive of excerpts from published UWA Arts academics' works. Take a look at these essay-fragments to see how different scholars describe their argument.
Discussing Gender and Internatonal Cultural RelationsDr Lendy Spires
Gender equality calls for women and men to have equal rights and entitlements to human, social, economic and cultural development, and an equal voice in civil and political life. This does not mean that women and men will become the same, but that women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities and opportunities do not depend on whether they are born male or female. The pursuit of gender equality has a long history. Especially in the West, it can be seen as an extension of the ongoing claims for liberty and equality unleashed by the French Revolution, when equality before the law became newly established as the basis of the social order.
Well into the 20th century, the extended struggle for the franchise has stood as the symbol of a much wider struggle by women playing a central role in extending, defending or giving substance to social citizenship rights. The call for equal rights for women resurfaced in the 1960s and 1970s alongside movements for civil and human rights, peace, the environment, and gay liberation. One of the major triumphs of this stage was the UN adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1979, the first international human-rights instrument to explicitly define all forms of discrimination against women as fundamental human-rights violations. CEDAW emphasised women's individual rights in opposition to those traditionalists who defend major inequalities in the status quo as the ‘complementary’ roles for men and women that nature intended. It called for the equality of men and women in public and political life, before the law and with respect to nationality rights, in education, employment, the provision of healthcare (including access to family planning services), and in marriage and family matters.
Another high point was the constitution of the new South Africa (1996 – built on the Women’s Charter for Effective Equality and the ANC’s 1993 Bill of Rights), which emphasises the equal citizenship of women and men and people of all races, by making provision for equal protection under the law, equal rights in the family, and in all areas of public life. In the last three to four decades, this pursuit of gender equality has brought successive challenges to many major areas of social, economic and political life, beginning with a quest for equal representation in the corridors of power, but developing into a broader critique of masculine bias and ‘power politics’, and the search for forms of mutual empowerment.
Sociological Essay Topics. What Separates Sociology from Common Sense Essay E...Elizabeth Montes
Essay on Sociology Topics | Sociology Topics Essay for Students and .... Sociology Essay Topics. 100 Interesting Sociology Essay Topics - Last minute assignment help. First Sociology Essay - David Flynn 117451924 SC Karl Marx and The .... 11 Smart Sociology Research Topics That Will Get You an A | Sociology ....
Jacky Chen
Professor Navarro
English 1A
16 October, 2021
Impacts Of Art to The World and Why It Had Been Disregarded in Many Places
Art is the expression, application, or depiction of creative ability and creativity via
visual media such as painting and sculpture. The artists have made significant contributions
to society via their work, which has resulted in a sea shift in how people see real-world
events. Nonetheless, art brings silent ideas to life and allows them to be interpreted by the rest
of the world present artists art with a purpose in mind. Various individuals perceive their
intentions and meanings differently based on their prior exposure to art, their known history,
and the historical period in which the art is exhibited. In this context, I will use chapter two of
our textbook to discuss the influence of arts on society while critically analyzing the author's
use of rhetorical devices and comparing them with " Dr. Larry Brewster and California
Arts-in-Corrections: A Case Study in Correctional Arts Research." This chapter of the book
is written by Checker and Fishman and focuses on many issues, but I will point out her
arguments on the impact of art in New York and why art had been disregarded in many
places.
The author uses rhetorical devices to appeal to us on the causes of art underestimation
in New York. Using pathos, the author appeals to our emotions by stating the ways art has
been underscoring in modern America. The author appeals to our feelings when passing
through her arguments on the importance of art in people's lives, specifically in politics. She
wants us to feel how she thinks about how art has lost its value in a modernized society. Here,
the author paints a vivid picture of how she dwelled into teaching, she needed people to "be
impacted by the theatre" (Checker and Fishman, 57). She constantly reminds us of why art
should still be embraced even after the evolution of museums and the gallery system. "This
work has underscored the many contradictions between our artistic ideas and how they have
been institutionalized since the modern era, brilliantly accounting for the art world I
experienced, with all its dissatisfactions" (Checker and Fishman, 53). Artists raised concerns
about funding organizations' propensity to quantify economic outcomes rather than recognize
aesthetic and social worth when evaluating creative initiatives piqued the author's attention.
The author uses pathos and introduces a fair share of life examples and writings to
appeal to us on how art is influential and impacts our daily lives. Also, through pathos,
Fishman points out that "consequently, the arts no longer serve as a source of inspiration or a
means of expressing concern for most people (Checker and Fishman, 53). It's not uncommon
for the author to talk about art's significance and its favorable reactions. Throughout the
chapter, she successfully uses pathos to build a sympathetic picture via emot ...
1. ARTS COUNCIL ENGLAND
NEW GENDER RELATIONS &
THE ARTS
A conversation on contemporary issues
on gender and the arts
Olu Alake for November Ventures
May 2009
2. NEW GENDER RELATIONS & THE ARTS
A conversation on contemporary issues on
gender and the arts
14th May 2009 held at LSO St Lukes, London.
To launch its Gender Equality Scheme, Arts Council England (ACE)
organised a one day symposium for its senior management and art-form
lead officer staff and key stakeholders on contemporary issues of gender
in the arts. The main stated objectives of this symposium were:
• Raise awareness of gender equality issues in the arts;
• Raise the level of debate on these issues and change perceptions;
• Celebrate achievements realised in gender equality and especially
women in the arts;
• Create, promote and encourage new avenues for engagement
within and across the arts on matters of gender relations; and
• Promote ACE’s gender equality scheme.
To achieve these objectives, an array of artists, cultural commentators,
academics and other relevant professionals was invited to lead
discussions and provoke thought and debate on various identified issues
and emerging matters.
Keynote: Dr Alicia Foster
"The arts are not additions to life, but life itself "- Clive James.
The keynote address was delivered by Dr Alicia Foster. Dr Foster
previously worked on a ground-breaking study and subsequent
exhibition at the Tate focussing on the contribution of women in
contemporary visual arts. She set the scene for the day, by relating the
current situation on gender relations in the arts to wider social and
cultural contexts, while simultaneously ensuring focus remained firmly
grounded on and in the arts. A key recurrent theme in her presentation
was the issue of choice as a by-product of the patriarchal establishments
which still hold sway in the arts. She observed that this system produced
processes which forced women into making a choice between dealing
with life and arts, which paraphrasing Clive James, she observed is not a
natural choice. By insisting on this as a choice for women vs. a choice by
2
3. society, she believes that we condemn the future of arts to perpetual
inequality.
She also identified other manifestations of this pernicious establishment
system. Some were more subtle, such as the vicious opposition to
current equality initiatives. Others were couched in language and
understandings that straddled other socio-cultural spheres. One such
persisting feature is the use of worn concepts of artistic quality to justify
opposition to promote gender equality and ensure maintenance of the
status quo. Dr Foster also warned ACE staff to be as wary of favouring
feminine orthodoxies as well, because if left un-interrogated, they could
have the same effect of replicating the structures they intend to
eradicate.
She concluded with an exhortation to ACE to recognise the current
urgent need for gender equality efforts as the current economic and
political situation in the UK will most likely result in a retrenchment into
historically established practices, hence making them more likely to
result in perpetuation of the status quo.
A panel chaired by Baroness Lola Young, consisting of writer and
actress Julie McNamara, performance poet Malika Booker, and writer
Lisa Goldman responded to the main points made by Dr Foster. Lisa
Goldman focussed on the class-based aspects of gender inequality, and
particularly on how there was an increased need for leadership roles for
women in all aspects of the arts. She established a causal link between
gender, experience, instincts and arts, and advocated more focussed
training for women to enable them to maximise their talent and potential,
as well as radical restructuring of the bastions of privilege in the arts,
such as boards and management committees, and challenged ACE to
confront the imbalance in funding between classical heritage and
contemporary companies.
Malika Booker called for greater awareness of multiple identities, which
shapes her work as an artist, especially giving a voice for the voiceless.
In her opinion, critical discourse of arts by the ‘other’ is still required.
Julie McNamara identified the mental health system as a last bastion of
oppression and established the inter-relationship of disability and
gender, especially in seeing gender as disability.
Alicia Foster observed that all the panellists had displayed their 'outsider'
status. She encouraged ACE to use the new legal instruments
vigorously in their future work in this area, noting that the new gender
duty forces public authorities to initiate action and the preponderance of
3
4. women in the arts is an opportunity that needs to be seized to reshape
this conversation.
The panel elicited from the audience some vigorous comments and
questions. These included questions on the existence, extent, role and
necessity for insider agitation of the system by women in ACE, the
Gender-ing of roles within a male agenda for those working in
institutions, and the great unspoken of inequality in the arts, which is the
impact and inter-relationship of Power and gender. Other key
contributions from this session focussed on:
- the level of ownership of the Gender equality agenda in ACE, and
especially how much scope this gave ACE staff to have the
courage to confront the system;
- Gender equality in a recession, especially pertinent as this will
mean less development time i.e. headspace, for gender equality
initiatives will be required;
- The identification of and support for learning opportunities for ACE
staff as a prerequisite for and catalyst of change;
- Gender pay gap and professional fees (the observation being
made that the lowest paid venue administrator earns more than
many highest paid commissioned actresses).
In summary, this panel set some challenges for ACE going forward,
including the need for a better interface with media about gender issues;
the need to invest in confidence building for women and an
admonishment to beware tokenisms.
Having had such a rich and vibrant opening session, the symposium
proceeded to explore the intersectionalities of gender with other social
and cultural contexts. This was done through a series of interventions.
Sanchita Islam discussed the intersections and cultural flashpoints
immanent in Gender, arts and madness, reciting some of her poetry
which provoked further thought on the topic.
GENDER, ARTS & MADNESS - SANCHITA iSLAM
"Can a mouse fall in love with an elephant?"
"Even when our feet are stapled to the ground, we have to find a way to
fly again..."
4
5. Fiona Dodd presented some recent research that had been undertaken
(commissioned by Cultural Leadership Programme) which revealed the
following interesting findings:
- Only 75% of female leaders in culture and arts aspire to remain
as leaders;
- Barriers and enablers are closely related to personal
circumstances and workplace culture
- There is a huge opportunity to build on what's working in peer
support, networking and confidence-building.
GENDER, ARTS & IDENTITY
The afternoon session, chaired by Dr Vena Ramphal, adopted a more
thematic approach and directly explored the intersectionalities of gender
with other key identity formation and representation flashpoints. The key
areas of exploration here were looking at the social, cultural and political
dynamics where gender meets arts, especially in the realms of ethnicity,
disability and media representation.
Reem Kelani, Manchester-born and of Palestinian origin, posited that
the question defining claims to ethnicity, especially for minority
communities, remains defining the ‘Other’. She observed that
Orientalism - as defined by Edward Said - remains a prevalent feature of
Western cultural policy decision-making. This manifests itself in several
ways, such as the ignorant and often wilful homogenisation of minority
communities. She however recognised ‘World Music’ as a potential
catalyst for re-examination of gender equality, and advocated the
strategic utilisation of ‘Other-ed’ identities, in the quest for genuine
responsible equality.
Jenny Sealey in looking at gender, arts and disability posed the
question of the extent to which in not meeting the accepted standards of
beauty, disabled artists still confronted massive hierarchies of inequality
imposed by non-disabled people. She wondered if where mental
institutions traditionally rendered many women genderless and sex-less,
cultural institutions operating from within the same paradigms did not
effectively do the same nowadays. Baroness Lola Young focussed on
media representations of gender in the arts. Particularly interested in the
analysis of power and representation, she outlined how the new equality
bill would dictate legal imperatives for public bodies such as ACE, and
invited ACE staff to begin to re-examine the current state of the arts
5
6. within the context of the law. This was particularly pressing when
considering the lack of plurality of images in the media adequately
reflecting the country’s gender diversity. The main consequence of this
she concluded was that this was allowing middle-class white males to go
under-examined in the public sphere.
Referring to research she had recently undertaken, looking over the
course of a week at all TV shows focussed on arts and culture, very few
females had been featured either as guest or presenters or for their
work. This is indicative of serious gender bias in the media. Lola
concluded that there is a need to change by campaigning, challenging
the lack of evidence and indiscriminate use of anecdotes, and support
others to achieve their best. ACE should lead by striving for perfection in
practice and supporting those who do this.
Led by the Chair Vena Ramphal, the panel concluded that dealing with
inequality on a single-issue basis works as a tactic but not as a
comprehensive response, as discrimination is not linear in its
progression. The panel also agreed on the need to transcend labelled
identities.
There was a healthy debate about the perceived or real contradiction
between seeking gender representation, recognition, and gender and
difference blindness. The panel also discussed various ways in which
gendered Others can challenge the system, with the panel giving
examples and sharing lessons from their own experiences. Sanchita
Islam advocated ‘Surreptitious Insurrections’, a succession of micro-
challenges to various aspects of inequality as it is confronted. Lola
Young asserted that she has learnt to be in the system but not of the
system. Reem Kelani advocated having and actively following one’s
passion but not to be a martyr.
On Identity, Recognition & Representation:
“Being who you are shapes who you are” – Reem Kelani.
“Everyone doesn't recognise that everyone is different. We need to ask
what differences matter or not” – Lola Young
“We're not fighting for cake, but crumbs, and we need to bake more
cakes!” - Sanchita Islam
Vena then set a challenge for the audience, asking them to consider the
following questions:
• What would characterise new gender relations in arts – i.e.
structural, behavioural and attitudinal change?
6
7. • What's the role of ACE in producing these new relations?
• As an ACE officer, what is my contribution going to be?
This was an interesting process, as it forced ACE officers to internalise
the issues being discussed and identify their own role in bringing about
change. The main points made by officers were:
• Difference needs to be seen more as an opportunity than a
barrier;
• ACE needs to have a more nuanced understanding of cultural
complexities of gender and race;
• ACE needs to focus properly on artistic excellence;
• Improve access to the channels for funding, information, etc.
• There is a need to continuously challenge the cultural context of
society in imposing and reinforcing gender stereotypes.
CONCLUSION
In wrapping the symposium up, ACE Director of Diversity Tony
Panayiotou identified that the challenge for ACE is to use this
symposium as a platform for future action and for bringing about real
systemic change. He asserted that ACE is more progressive on some
dimensions of discrimination than others but the issue of power
dynamics in the arts, which entrenches and sustains inequality, needs to
be challenged. Current and proposed legislation provides ACE with the
opportunity to begin to change things. With the proposed changes to the
organisational structure and commensurate roles and responsibilities,
every ACE officer will now effectively be a diversity officer with the
responsibility for taking on the agenda for gender equality and indeed all
other dimensions of discrimination.
Overall, the symposium met its main objective of raising awareness of
gender equality issues in the arts and raising the level of debate on key
areas of the main issues. ACE’s gender equality scheme was
highlighted and ACE staff began to develop a heightened appreciation
and understanding of how this can be utilised to enable them to be
agents of real change. The keynote speech particularly challenged ACE
to celebrate achievements in gender equality and especially recognise
the contributions of women in the arts, and use this as a platform for
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8. creating and promoting new avenues for engagement within and across
the arts.
Certain key themes emerged at this event which should form the basis
of future attention by ACE. These are Discrimination & Power, Identities
& Representation, and Equipping agents of change. It is imperative that
there is a more inclusive approach to dealing with these issues, in terms
of not just the players involved in formulating approaches and sharing
experiences beyond the recognised and familiar, but also inclusive in
thematic terms, ensuring that the read-across between gender equality
and other dimensions of discrimination is recognised and interrogated.
It is strongly recommended that these emerging themes, form the basis
of a follow-up publication, with a wider array of contributors which will
mitigate one of the obvious limitations of this symposium, should be
commissioned as soon as possible. This can have not just a wider
appreciation of all aspects of physical gender (men, women, trans-
gender), but also adopt an international perspective as well, which will
be very relevant in our globalised world.
There is a palpable sense of urgency about dealing with these issues at
the moment, given the uncertain structural and financial climate in which
ACE is operating. This also provides ACE with a real opportunity to
deliver lasting change and make the arts in England the arena for
creative excellence that it is meant to be.
Olu Alake
November Ventures
June 2009.
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