Women Street Artists Explain Why Street Art Is So Male Dominated

According to the <a href="https://nmwa.org/advocate/get-facts" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">National Museum of Women in the Arts</a>, women make up just over half of all visual artists in the country today. Yet about only 30 percent of artists represented at commercial galleries are women. But street art presents an additional barrier of entry to women. As street artist Caroline Caldwell told me, women street artists simply want to be recognized as artists rather than labeled as women artists. Yet gender makes a huge difference when you’re doing street art. Caldwell noticed this more when she first started creating street art outside. “My gender [m]ade me feel immensely vulnerable,” explained Caldwell. “Walking down the street felt like walking through a men’s locker room.” Unease in public space is a feeling that plenty of women can relate to, but for an artist who spends much more time in that space, the vulnerability is exacerbated: “Guys would follow me on the street, touch my hair and shout things at me from their car.” <blockquote> When we don’t picture women as graffiti writers, those artists become invisible. </blockquote> Of course, to be a muralist or a street artist, you have to endure these things: being in public spaces for long periods of time, often alone and at night. And for male street artists, it’s different. They’re less vulnerable. “Men are far less likely to be followed, harassed, assaulted, etc., when doing basic stuff like walking home from work,” Caldwell continued. <a href="https://thebolditalic.com/women-street-artists-explain-why-street-art-is-so-male-dominated-5e475b276686">Website</a>