Monday, March 12, 2012

Who Does She Think She Is?

I saw Who Does She Think She Is? Friday night. I loved this movie. It was inspiring to see other artists working on their craft while working on being wives and mothers.


At one point I welled up thinking about my own personal struggle. I often feel guilty because of some notion of how a wife and mother is supposed to live--not for herself but for her family. This goes back to my post about the apron. I mentioned a quote from Anna Karenina--It makes no difference, we're all obedient wives, it runs in the family--and I feel the pull to live up to that expectation despite my need to be an artist, which is pulling me in another direction. It's a direction that is viewed as selfish by many, and apparently, a part of me feels that way too. Even if you're not a woman or a mom, I still recommend this documentary. Woman in the arts are so underrepresented in galleries and museums, and women--moms or not--all deal with the pressure of being considered hobbyists and support systems for their husbands. I was really shocked by the statistics of how few women artists are at the big galleries. Why have women artists historically been left out of the ranks? My MIL just gave me Women, Art, and Society by Whitney Chadwick, and she couldn't have picked a better time--I'm about to go camping and surely there will be time to fit in some reading.

2 comments:

Alison said...

Wow Cathy..thank you for the link and for making me aware about this movie. It resonates on so many levels. I have to see if it's playing in Canada.

Cathy Savage said...

I found it on Netflix. I think it's been out awhile...