CHENNAI: Another Women’s Day has been done and dusted. The years have ensured a sense of fairness in the celebrations. No longer are the super achievers the only ones who are feted. In the run up to the big day, women from all walks of life are hunted down and lured onto temporarily erected podiums to narrate their inspiring stories, awards are handed over by self proclaimed male luminaries of society while audiences applaud her grit and determination. All seems well until the pink flowers wilt to melancholic browns in the aftermath, and you slowly begin to wonder what the noise was all about!
Art, although a tool to question injustices, has never been able to free itself of gender disparities and sexism. A recent incident that says it all is a marketing strategy employed by the reputed British Museum to advertise its show on Roman military history. The caption asked single women to visit the show, walk around looking confused and thus, attract male company on the pretext of seeking to understand the exhibition. The museum has since apologised but it only goes to reaffirm age-old stereotypes, despite all the progress we think we have made.
The issues that women artists face are manifold. Not many female artists are taken as seriously by art galleries and buyers, as their male counterparts, who still reign supreme. Most times, the work of a female artist is looked on as a craft. Due recognition is a long road and barely a woman artist ever matches up to the prices commanded by a male artist.
