What does children's art work tell us about gender?

If art is an authentic expression of the self, a sociologist should be able to examine children's art work to see what effect various social agents have had on gender socialization. Inferences could be made from the art work about the socialization process. In this study, the authors examined children's art work to investigate the implicit sex role perceptions of children. The population included 110 students between the ages of nine and 12 in three elementary schools in Texas. 126 pieces of art were examined and 500 independent ratings were made. Results of the study indicated that the content and form of children's art work differ significantly by sex. A gender role perspective was used to explain the pattern.     

Castration and Medusa: Orlan's Art on the Cutting Edge

French multimedia artist Orlan (b. 1947) literally altered her body and identity in the name of art by undergoing multiple cosmetic surgeries that replaced her features with those from art historical masterpieces. She transformed herself into an objet d'art as well as a site for public debate, thereby injecting a radical sensibility into Western art and its history. The provocative surgeries at the core of Orlan's “carnal art” both exemplify and expand Freud's notion of castration to include the wish to transcend gender and even the body itself. Like Medusa, Orlan confronts us with blinding images that compel us to question our assumptions about art, beauty, gender, identity, and technology. Her project shows us the fate of human embodiment in a posthuman age. In addition to elucidating her social, feminist, and aesthetic agenda, this paper clarifies her personal psychology and her work's effect on the audience.     

Selling art to the world in Chelsea

This paper explores the dynamic interaction that occurs between large-scale social processes, urban development and the production of artistic expression and meaning through an analysis of art and urban change in the West Chelsea district of New York City. I begin my analysis with a discussion of specific works of art and expand to the local and global context to which these works respond and help to construct. Both urban space and artistic production, consumption and the social meaning attached to art by artists, critics, audiences and other art world actors have felt the impact of the turn to free market policies and ideology that have attended global economic restructuring and the rapid pace of globalisation. At the same time, art's new role as an engine of urban commerce and the accompanying expansion of the art market have helped to shape city districts like West Chelsea and have left their mark on the work that is exhibited and sold there. My analysis integrates a close study of two works of art exhibited in West Chelsea, interviews and other ethnographic data and recent literature on the arts and urban restructuring and the perspective of critical theory. I also provide photographic documentation of social interaction and the built environment of West Chelsea as it evolved in response to the expansion of the art worlds there. A secondary aim of this research is to contribute to a larger discussion about the social role and critical capacities of art in today's social, economic and political climate.     

The propagation of awe: public relations,art and belief in Reformation Europe

Public relations scholarship, so positivistically oriented, has shown little interest in history and the arts. While public relations may or may not be a science, few scholars would deny that PR is an art. The crystallizing potency of the arts, throughout history, offers communication scholars a largely unexplored source for theory development. This metahistorical essay explores the origin of public relations as the propagation of awe, i.e., the strategic use of art, both high and vulgar, as a tool of opinion formation. The essay's focus is on the patronage, objectives and messages of art in the Catholic and Protestant reformations, the prolonged and conflictual era which some historians identify as the origin of modern public opinion.     

The representation of street art on Flickr. Studying reception with visual content analysis

Street art is public art; it’s accessible; it’s of the people; it’s an urban voice; it’s on public view; it’s on-the-street. Nonetheless, the World Wide Web has been party responsible for street art becoming both recognised and popular. As a result, this study is investigating how street art is represented on the open photo-sharing platform, Flickr. It is a social network site offering a large portfolio of photographs showing a wide range of images, which have been categorised and classified using ‘tags’. By using a visual content analysis based on theoretically determined categories to examine the uploaded photographs, this investigation will shed light on what a selection of Flickr users recognise as street art and how they record and index it.     

Hyperfemininity: Measurement and initial validation of the construct

Asocial control model of rape proposes that there are societal mechanisms including rape in place to maintain the power imbalance between males and females. One of the forces that perpetuates the problem of rape is traditional gender‐role socialization. A gender‐role model of rape characterizes males as aggressive initiators of sexual activity and women as passive participants. Research has established a link between extreme adherence to a male gender role and experience with sexual aggression; it has been proposed that females learn attitudes about sexuality that might negatively influence their sexual experiences as well, but there is little research to support such a proposal. In the present study, “hyperfeminine” women were hypothesized to indicate particular traditional attitudes and beliefs regarding the rights and roles of women that would have implications for male‐female relationships. The development of a scale to measure hyperfemininity is reported, and several studies are presented that provide initial evidence that the Hyperfemininity scale is both valid and reliable. Hyperfemininity was found to be associated with attitudes supportive of a traditional feminine gender role; these attitudes, in turn, were found to be related to adversarial sexual attitudes and traditional feminine achievement ideals. The possible origins of hyperfeminine attitudes and their role in helping to institutionalize the problem of rape are discussed.     

Sexual portraits: Edward Melcarth and homoeroticism in modern American art

Although one will not find Edward Melcarth (1914-73) in the best recent histories of male homosexuality and American art, he was not always so spectral. Named in Life magazine in 1950 as one of the best young American artists, he exhibited as a painter, draftsman and sculptor and also practised as an illustrator, photographer and designer. His work survives in the Forbes Collection, in the Smithsonian Institution and in the art archives at the Kinsey Institute. We argue that Melcarth’s vision of the erotic was far broader than the traditional categories of sexuality that are perpetuated in art histories of homoeroticism in modern America – and that such a revisioning enables a reinterpretation of some of the better known images of homosexual art.     

Social inequality and art institutions

Our objective is to examine how several aspects of the class structure influence the prevalence of artistic institutions. The analysis is based on quantitative comparisons of the 125 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. Most of the literature on the history of art concludes that artistic developments depend on the patronage of an elite—as noble patrons, as rich donors, or even as affluent bourgeois donors and audiences. Whereas these conclusions imply that class inequalities further the growth of the arts, our empirical findings indicate the opposite. Both lesser inequality and reductions of inequality in a metropolis increase a variety of artistic institutions, and these influences persist when other influences on these institutions are controlled.     

A New Deal': art, museums and communities re-imagining relations

‘A New Deal’ argues that engaged or participatoryart practice can be shown to be central rather than marginalto the meaning and value of art in the ‘story’ ofhuman society, but only if we take a long view and change theposition from which we read and understand received history.It also argues that new models of art and institutional practiceare needed in the present, which foreground and validate participation,engagement and commonality – the reconnection of artistand community within social space. These new models are neededif we are to generate the new art forms that emancipate ratherthan disempower the citizen and which are not defined by thecul de sac of commodity and consumerism.     

The role of primitive art on vernacular architecture: Its relevance on contemporary architecture in Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is renowned for its colourful and delightful primitive objects of art. This paper offers an alternative explanation of the role of primitive art on vernacular architecture. To understand this role clearly, the meaning and the functions of primitive art are, first, defined. The role played by primitive art among the Papua New Guinean societies is then explained. Finally, the paper suggests the need for a conscious integration of this art into other aspects of development in Papua New Guinea; contemporary architectural works being one of them.     

The art and craft fair: A new institution in an old art world

This paper focuses on the role of art and craft fairs in the contemporary stained glass profession. Full-time, non-traditional stained glass work could be considered a marginal profession in that it lacks a centralized source of control. The institutionalization of fairs is one solution to problems of decentralization in this profession.Three patterns of participation are noted for stained glass practitioners. First, some artisans participate in art and craft fairs as a stepping stone in their professional development. Second, some practitioners have custom-work studios and continue to participate in the fairs after they have established their studios. Third, for some the art and craft fair is an end, rather than a means. Art and craft fairs serve as a functional equivalent to apprenticeships and other centralized sources of control in the stained glass world. Quantitative and qualitative data are used to support the arguments. The paper concludes by discussing the applicability of these ideas to other contemporary arts/crafts.My thanks to the reviewers and editors for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. This paper has been completed, in part, with equipment purchased by NSF Grant # CSI-8551728.     

Gender-sensitive data: the state of the art in Europe*

Gender statistics play a crucial role in social research and in the creation of gender sensitive policies. Gender statistics document the situation of women and men around the world, making it easier to raise awareness about inequalities between them, to monitor gender equality and promote actionable change. There is thus a need to encourage awareness about gender statistics and their usefulness in gender mainstreaming. The paper has different aims: (1) to discuss the role of gender statistics and gender sensitive indicators; (2) to give an overview of the main gender sensitive European databases; (3) to present the European Commission Strategy on Gender Equality; (4) to display information collected by the European Institute for Gender Equality (Eige) database; (5) to promote proposal for increasing the gender sensitivity of social indicators.     

Ups and downs of art commerce: narratives of “crisis” in the contemporary art markets of Russia and India

This article develops an analytical framework to study the role of narratives in markets and argues that there is a relationship between the structure and composition of narratives produced by market actors and market dynamics. With respect to theory, the article bridges the perspectives that study markets as cultures and as fields and draws from the organizational studies approach to the analysis of narratives. Two empirical cases of the crises narratives in the emerging contemporary art markets of Russia and India illustrate the use of the framework. The analysis is based on in-depth interviews with artists and art dealers as well as observations in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, New Delhi, and Mumbai conducted between April 2012 and June 2013. The article shows that there is a widely shared crisis narrative with a coherent structure in the Indian art market. In contrast, fragmented and contested stories that lack narrative structure dominate in the Russian art market. The analysis of the first case highlights the narrative structure and shows the productive work it does in the Indian market—it provides a moral justification of existing market norms and produces a perspective for the future. The analysis of the second case focuses on the context of narrative production and connects the conflicting interpretations of the crisis in the Russian art market to contested hierarchies and persistent uncertainty.     

Street art in non-capital urban centres: between exploiting commercial appeal and expressing social concerns

ABSTRACT

How do local cultural agents in particular places adopt new policies towards street art as having commercial and political value? The present article takes up this question through a discussion of street art festivals and their role within urban culture and cultural policies in two large Russian cities. It considers the activities of cultural intermediaries promoting street art vis-à-vis the existing constellation of over-centralized politics, creative industries, urban development and precarious labour. Drawing on fieldwork in these cities and conducting critical sociological analysis of the street art curating, I show how the appropriation of street art by cultural intermediaries is subtly changing its ecology and values and argue that this change contributes to the range of ambivalences of neoliberal cultural politics. The article also sheds light on cultural policy and practice in Russia at a juncture characterised by the impact of globalization, on the one hand, and the country's isolationist and conservative politics, on the other.     

The age of skin cancers

Cancer affects two major cell types in the human skin: epithelial cells and melanocytes. Aging and a previous history of ultraviolet light exposure are major risk factors for skin cancers, including basal and squamous cell carcinomas and melanomas. However, melanomas, which are the most deadly of the skin tumors, display two intriguing characteristics: The incidence is increased and the prognosis is worse in males over 60 years as compared with females of the same age. This Perspective discusses possible reasons for age and gender as melanoma risk factors, as well as the need for studies aimed at unraveling the molecular mechanism of such puzzling events.     

Explaining Gender Gaps in Legislative Committees

ABSTRACT

Legislative committees are often the epicenter of parliamentary influence, so their composition matters. Men are widely overrepresented in prestigious, influential committees, with women concentrated in low-status committees. These gender gaps have repercussions for power, visibility, careers, and policy outcomes. Yet the puzzle of why committees are gendered remains unsolved. Combining insights from quantitative and qualitative methods, we offer two major advances. We develop the literature on committee allocations, providing the first comprehensive gendered analysis. And we show how gender permeates all aspects of political careers from socialization to the political summit, leading to deep-rooted inequalities of power, influence, and opportunity.     

A lightness of vision: the poetics of Relation in Malian art photography

“Art photography” is a recent phenomenon in Bamako, Mali, home of renowned studio portraitists Seydou Keïta (1921/3–2001) and Malick Sidibé (b.1936). These photographers inspired the founding of the Bamako Photography Biennale in 1994, which sparked the rise of a local art photography movement. The potentialities offered by the Biennale ignited the imaginations of a small cohort of Malian photographers. Yet, instead of following global trends introduced by the presence of international art, the Bamakois art photographers have remained close to the values of studio portraiture. Their practices emphasise photography’s social aspect by focusing on the human body and appreciating its beauty, while allowing individual creativity to flourish in ways previously unimaginable. Malian photographers thus have retained a relatively autonomous local identity, while creating art photography stemming from a history of portraiture that itself was repositioned as art on the global stage. This dialectic between local identity and global reception gives contemporary Malian photographs the potential to embody Relation, from Caribbean philosopher Édouard Glissant’s Poetics of Relation (1990) and Philosophie de la Relation (2009). Relation acknowledges differences and diversity within wholeness or totality, and de-hierarchises power relations. Works by Alioune Bâ, Fatoumata Diabaté, Alimata dite Diop Traoré, Seydou Camara, Mohamed Camara, Emannual Daou and Youssouf Sogodogo exhibit a diversity of aesthetic approaches toward the theme of the body as a nexus of social networks, as a locus of memory, as marked by difference and as a site not only of desire, but of moral instruction. While Mali struggles with the violent after-effects of a military coup that ended two decades of peaceful democracy, these photographs commemorate that period of peace through their varied emphases on social interactions, the tolerance and celebration of difference, the importance given to personal and national memory and the traditional values of moral didacticism.     

Research note: Promoting intercultural education through art education

Taking UNESCO’s proposal ‘learning how to live together’ as a starting point, we examined to what extent visual education can be used as a tool to promote the aims of intercultural education. We analyzed the power of using artistic images from different cultures to change students’ perception of cultural differences, thereby facilitating the development of attitudes of respect towards different ethnic/cultural groups. We also investigated to what extent this strategy could contribute to the integration of minority peers into a majority group. Students were assigned to either an experimental or a control group. The experimental treatment consisted of exposing students to several art object images associated with different cultures. Our measurement instrument was based on an adapted version of the ‘Draw‐A‐Person‐Test’, which we have called the ‘Draw‐Two‐Persons‐Test’. We also used a questionnaire to examine attitudes among subjects     

Biotech aesthetics: Exploring the practice of bio art

Advances in biotechnology include contemporary artists working in laboratories to create living and semi-living works of art. This paper offers an account of how bio art can be read as an emerging contemporary art practice of the early twenty-first century. This draws on the art-historical precedent of Marcel Duchamp, who transformed objects from commonplace existence into works of art, and contemporary theories of art. Empirical data, in the form of interviews with leading bio art practitioners Oron Catts, Eduardo Kac, Kira O'Reilly, Stelarc and Paul Vanouse, are used to study how artists navigate between disciplines. In doing so, we discuss bio art as a critical practice based on a communal ethos.     

All modes lead to home: assessing the state of the remittance art

The art of sending remittances overlaps with migration, technological innovation and marketing – three of globalization's driving forces. All things being equal, the role of innovation with regard to remittances is to reduce transaction costs in making these transfers. Yet, other aspects of the marketing mix come into play apart from the price of sending remittances such as product user‐friendliness, the location of senders and beneficiaries, and the promotion of these technologies. In this article, I assess the state of the remittance art in terms of meeting the needs of remittance senders and beneficiaries and future directions that this domain may take due to further diffusion of innovations. Remittance technologies represent a promising direction in which cutting edge technology is harnessed to focus on developing world concerns. By enlisting the talents of the world's foremost product and service designers, private sector initiatives such as these can play a role in helping ease poverty's penalties.