Vandalog

Why Aren’t “Women Street Artists” Just “Street Artists”?

As a young woman and an emerging artist with a connection to street art, I am trying to understand my identity within the artsphere. Lately, the onslaught of the “10 Best Women Street Artists”-type articles has made the difference between being an “artist” and being a “woman artist” a potent source of inner-conflict. I feel like I’m supposed to like those articles and feel empowered or something. Maybe it’s because I attend one of those progressive, crunchy-granola liberal arts schools that recognizes gender as a spectrum (which, for the most part, just means removing the “male” “female” indications from bathrooms). But … I don’t want to read another article that says “women can do this too!” but lacks an understanding of the larger social issues connected to the gender imbalance in street art. Clearly the drive to see women succeed is there, and this press is well-intended. But what we need is broader systemic change for women on the whole before we start seeing the effects of that in street art.

Borf and Snowden in Philly on Flickr.