Why Art Empowers Women By Diletta Fenicia

Art can enhance the unrestricted flow of expression and can enhance the achievement of a positive identity. Empowerment is the expansion in the aptness to make deliberate choices in a context where such was once denied. In the past, art was based only on a social meritocracy that excluded women entirely. Now, women can write the history of a culture that discards all of its voices.

Change takes place with a new, visionary attitude that shapes culture. Fortitude in the practice of art and creative elucidations can bring powerful social transformation to underrepresented communities. Art inspires women to create a superior future and since one person has the power to change the world, this makes women artists important.

Feminism has gone a long way since the times of Artemisia Gentileschi; yet, it has not fully accomplished its roles. The achievement of such would imply women to be represented visually in the right way and to have women to be well saturated in the art market. Success or recognition cannot be measured considering the great discrepancy that still lives on in the art world between female and male artists.  Art empowers women by fulfilling a cultural purpose that allows for a liberated thinking. Women’s visionary approach to shaping culture, their determination to make things happen in spite of the system or convention of institutions is power. It is this kind of emancipation that is deeply felt by women that drive women to act upon it with a fearless disposition.

Art made by female artists will always be categorised as such. This is empowering because it allows women to create their own networks in the arts in the same way in which men have been doing for a very long time. It encourages women to help one another, to bond, to stand together. It is a tool through which women can feel proud of their nature. It creates a conversation around how female artists chose to represent themselves. This new category stands in deep contrast with the art historical practice of female form viewed through the gaze of male artists. Art can then live on in the works of other female artists throughout time creating highly vocal critical social discourses. The curated separation of male and female artists in the art world defines another criterion for this prominence that creates another market paradigm.

Art is empowering women in that it encourages the evolution of womanhood. Women can use their art practices to critically consider the past and future of feminism. In view of the fact that in art history there is very limited space for artists that do not belong to the limited, over-represented circle of men artists that are white and heterosexual; art made by women keeps the edge sharp. It keeps the dialogue moving and the brain advancing in terms of how women have the ability to shape notions of sexuality, gender equality, family, society, and life in general. Those who are empowered are the ones that have played a part in the process. Women are using their art practices to critically consider the past and future of feminism.

Art allows self-expression and growth. It empowers women into the finding of change and improvement at the level of the psyche. High art elevates, it is moral and is productive for functional development and growth. It can be a process of change, improvement, and it requires agency. Art is a transformational process, it allows to go through a process of discovery and awareness. When discovering the power of art, women can shape and shift realities accordingly. Art can promote self-growth, skills development, increase awareness of inequality issues in society and encourage people to speak up and advocate for social change through the salvaging of personal identities aided by artistic expression.

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