Psychotherapy with women artists

Creative Labors: The Lives and Careers of Women Artists

“…The women perceived the arts milieu to be very much a "man's world" and described both overt and covert sexual harassment and discrimination that had prevented them from receiving recognition and support for their work. Although such struggles might be interpreted as a reflection of a more traditional social climate during the years that this particular cohort of women were starting out in their careers, gender role conflict and sexism continue to be identified in the literature (e.g., Kerr, 1985;Noble, 1987Noble, , 1989Sang, 1989) as serious impediments to the career development of gifted and talented women. The area in which the current results may shed the most new light is on the process of women artists' creative (i.e., artistic) identity development.…”

“…At the same time, the (limited) scholarly research available as well as personal lived accounts of women artists suggest that pursuit of a career in the arts may be particularly difficult for women because of a variety of factors. Barriers to success for women in the arts include (a) recurring unemployment, career interruption and instability (McCaughey, 1985;Noble, 1987); (b) low pay and frequently intangible rewards (Sang, 1989); (c) the traditional association of artistic roles with men and the corresponding devaluation of women's artistic career pursuits by selfand others (Bepko & Krestan, 1993;McCaughey, 1985); (d) difficulty in balancing competing personal, relationship, and familial roles and obligations (Chicago, 1977;Kavaler-Adler, 1993;Sang, 1989;Stohs, 1992); and (e) pervasive sex discrimination in the arts world, which makes it difficult for women artists to get appropriate training, recognition, and adequate financial recompense for their work (Chicago, 1977;Kerr, 1985;Noble, 1987Noble, , 1989Sang, 1989;Wyszomirski, 1985). Wyszomirski also noted that the prevalence of age discrimination in many facets of the arts "can detract from the acceptance of women as being creative, productive, or exciting once they past 4o-atjust the time when years of study, development, and reputation-building place them at, what is for men, the threshold of enduring success, acclaim, and stature" (p. 10).…”