Why have there been no great women artists?

Nochlin starts with a statement that may, at first, cause an uproar among female artists...there HAS NOT been any great female artists. The real question is why. First of all, she points out the failure of the institution to expand the definition of "great." A great artist was believed to have the inherent characteristic of genius. Although the idea of artistic genius has largely been dispelled as myth in relation to contemporary work, the definition of great was applied in defining the art historical cannon which was constructed based on a Western male perspective. Therefore, the assessment of what defined "greatness" was biased from the start. In addition, the texts that summarize the history of art were largely written by white men.

I believe that the absence of great women artists is also linked to a failure in the art education system. Nochlin asks why there are no female equivalents to Michaelangelo or Rembrandt. The ultimate art subject of the Renaissance seems to be the human figure. However, women were prohibited from the study of the nude form and therefore, their artistic education was lacking in the area associated with artistic "greatness." We can also link the failure of education to what was discussed last week...what artist's are "supposed" to express through their art (ex. African-American artists "should" express something about the experience of being black and women "should" express something about being female.) By these limitations, the only artist with full artistic freedom is the western white male (preferably middle to upper class). Although I believe that these limitations are disappearing in terms of contemporary artists, it highly influenced the art of the 60s and 70s.

The limiting definition of "greatness" seems to be the cause of the absence of great women artists, since "greatness" seems to be entirely subjective and linked to the perspective of the western white male.

"Post-Feminism"
Amelia Jones sees post-feminism as a backlash against feminist ideals or the "death" of feminism that counters the Women's Liberation movement. However, there is a split between the definition of postfeminism in media culture and in scholarly culture. In media culture, postfeminism signals the end of feminism. Women become passive consumerists concerned solely with their position as a mother and homemaker. The scholarly perspective entails a new perspective of feminist issues. Jones believes photography and feminism are connected because photographs often serves a heterosexist and patriarchal commercial purpose. These advertising images reinforce "norms" associated with patriarchal culture. Women are the "purchasers" for the home, and are then passive recipients of advertising. Post-feminism associates feminism with the disruption of traditional family values. However, I wonder about the differences in 3rd wave feminism and post-feminism. I am under the impression that 3rd wave feminism supports the woman's choice to take on "traditional" female roles (mother, position in the domestic sphere) although she would retain her independence. 3rd wave feminism also supports the expression of "femaleness" (wearing dresses, pink, etc).

Question: Is the scholarly perspective of postfeminism the same as third wave feminism? Is it a generational difference?

Question: What does the scholarly view of postfeminism mean for artistic practice? According to Jones, feminism was seen as anti-modernist, since modernism was linked to the patriarchal structure of the art world and modernist art was often seen as masculine.