Creativity and women: the documentary Who Does She Think She Is?

From review by Pauline on CHICKS ROCK! :

“This documentary film follows the trials and tribulations of five women artists, and how they maintain the shaky balance between motherhood and art in their lives. It is the kind of movie everyone should see, but may not be able to because of limited media coverage.

“Who Does She Think She Is?” exposes the enduring sexism that continues to permeate the art world. I was unaware of this, until someone in the film asked random people outside of museums if they could name five women artists. No one could answer the question!

“I had a sinking feeling in my stomach when I realized that I couldn’t give a complete response either. My embarrassment turned to determination; I have to make an effort to learn more about those talented (and often unrecognized) women who see little of the artistic spotlight, as opposed to their male counterparts.”

Who Does She Think She Is? was directed by Pamela Tanner Boll, co-directed and edited by Nancy C Kennedy.

www.whodoesshethinksheis.net

Here is the trailer:

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“For most of my life I have been trying to understand why it is that women have not played a more active role in art. Why couldn’t women paint as well or better than men? If a few women could paint as well or better than men, why couldn’t more women do it? …

“Eventually I arrived at a theory, which I offer for consideration. It goes like this: women, being generally more rational than men, are aware that life is more important than art. This is simple logic: art is a part of life, therefore art cannot be greater than life.

“As long as the art object was conceived as a monument to itself, women shrank before attempting it. Women who modify their environment every hour of every day, whether they are shaping their child’s damp hair, or twitching a blind, or choosing wallpaper, or dressing themselves with wit and ingenuity, are unexcited by the self-contained, self-regarding work of art.” [Continued]

Germaine Greer serves as Professor Emeritus of English Literature and Comparative Studies at the University of Warwick.

Her books include a biography of Anne Hathaway entitled Shakespeare’s Wife, and The Female Eunuch.

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