National Art Education Association

From Gender Competition to Creative InterdependenceAuthor(s): Jerome J. HausmanSource: Art Education, Vol. 45, No. 2 (Mar., 1992), pp. 4-5Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3193319 .

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From Gender Competition to Creative

As part of the Introduction to The Philosophy of History in Our Time, Hans Meyerhoff observes: "A historical narrative reads much more like a novel than a scientific text - unless it be a dull history

- ; I | which reads like a tract in sociology. By what "logic", then, is this narrative put together? What rational factors determine "the judicious selection, rejection, and arrangement "by which Macaulay said,"the historian gives to truth those attractions which have been usurped by fiction?" (p. 19).

In reviewing manuscripts for this issue, I have had to look again at the artists whose works make up what we call "The History of Art." Seen from present day perspec-

V '"iT~S';1X:0tX0 tives, we now recognize that art forms ? ,:^ i 1 :; ?f t0 1; E - X created by women have been ignored or

^^;--. :::::;0 ; 2 ~relegated to a lesser position in many of .......... . ....... our art historical accounts. One need only

?Vivienne della Grotta 1987 look at the "standard texts" used in the teaching of art history in the 1950's or 1960's (History of Art by H.W. Janson; Art Through the Ages by Helen Gardner; The Story of Art by E.H. Gombrich and others) to note the absence of references to the works of women artists.

There have been acknowledged, past imbalances and omissions in the accounts of art history. Priority and more focused attention has been given terms like "style", "genius", "connoiseurship" as applied to certain individual, masculine, more ego- centered expressions that can be con- trasted with more-communal, feminine, more ritualistic or ceremonial forms. At its worst, art making is clearly implied to have been a male dominated activity, serving to satisfy needs of human struggle, personal realization, and self-identification or

4 Art Education/March 1992

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Interdependence- An Editorial

glorification. Of course, descriptions and accounts of

the past need to be under constant review and revision. Clearly, more women artists are now included in our historical accounts. However, the basic issue will not be resolved through a readjustment of numeri- cal comparisons. Additional citations of works by women artists is necessary but not sufficient. Still to be addressed are the fundamental issues of how we conceive of and value artistic forms and expression, past and present, by both men and women.

Great changes are now taking place in present day art historical practice. The very "discipline" is undergoing revision. Femi- nist, psychoanalytical, socio-political, and structuralist perspectives are impacting ideas and practices of art history. From today's vantage point, a wider universe of art forms made by human beings is being included in the domain of art history. Such study reunites ideas and objects under the rubric of art. It also calls attention to a wider range of motives, orientations, and role models connected to the creation of art. Hence, it should be obvious that the gender issues of developing insights and understanding of art will not be corrected by merely allowing women to have greater access to role models reflective of a "man's world".

In her book Composing a Life Mary Catherine Bateson identified a larger, more persuasive generalization that I feel to be central as we think of the place of woman, minorities, indeed, all artists in the study of art. "The fundamental problem of our society and species today is to discover a way to flourish that will not be at the

expense of some other community or of the biosphere, to replace competition with creative interdependence." (p. 239).

The simple fact is that each person is unique, bringing a blend of possibilities, potentialities, and harmonies for dealing with the complexities and discontinuities that make up our world. We need to set aside stereotypes of female passivity and dependence as well as male predisposi- tions for power and control. Physiologically, each person represents a unique blending of both male and female characteristics. Each person enters a world in which there are particular sequences, settings, and circumstances. George Kubler in his book The Shape of Time pointed out: "Good or bad entrances are more than matters of position in the sequence. They also depend upon the union of temperamental endowments with specific positions. Every position is keyed, as if it were to the action of a certain range of temperaments. When a specific temperament interlocks with a favorable position, the fortunate individual can extract from the situation a wealth of previously unimagined consequences." (p. 2).

Each person works to make the best sense for his or her life. There is just so much time and energy to do so. Increas- ingly, we are coming to recognize and value different styles and role models for both men and women. Effective art teach- ing challenges us to foster the learning of new and more inclusive approaches by men and women in their expression and realization through art.

Jerome J. Hausman, Editor

Art Education/March 1992 5

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