Have a Sweet Weekend.

Congratulations!!!

Yes to dressing professionally in cold climates! I work remotely on several different job sites everyday, which means I am walking outside a lot, but still have to look professional. I struggle with what shoes I can wear that keep my feet warm, can wear on icy streets and look professional at the same time! Keeping an extra pair at the office doesn’t work when you have no office! Would LOVE to hear opinions on this!

I can see your point, but I was recently at a museum where 90% of the art was white, male, western. A curator may not have overtly said “let’s not have women/blacks/Muslims/etc.”, but the lack thereof is still unacceptable exclusion. I don’t believe it is racist to point out that there should be inclusion and the facts that there still is not enough equality. I would love to hear what your thoughts are to increase inclusion and equality in a different/ better way! (Genuinely interested in what you have to say, not being snarky.) Perhaps this is still a factor of people not fully understanding what racism is. The systematic exclusion of a group of people over time – whether is it deliberate or not (and many time is was historically deliberate and we are still living with those ramifications) – is still racism.

Hi Megan! I think Jo was referring to the fact that traditionally, institutions like MoMA would only showcase artists who were male, white, and from the Western world. So in this instance, the refresh is geared towards hanging art from traditionally underrepresented groups. The argument that “we should just be race/gender/ethnicity/Global South vs Global North blind” assumes that those groups are on equal footing to Western white men, when in fact a lot of the same structural inequalities that put art from white men in galleries in the first place still exists. So, when an institution like MoMA decides to target groups other than those men, it’s not excluding them from the art world. It’s just making room for everyone else. One day through initiatives like these hopefully everyone will be on the same footing, and we’ll get to see art from everyone hung everywhere. Until then, be patient and make room. Hope that makes sense!

Megan –

In a perfect world, race wouldn’t be an issue at all. But the world we are living in today is faaaar from perfect, and one of the only ways to dismantle the white-, male- and Western-dominated systems that are entrenched in this country is to use EXACTLY the kind of language Joanna did. White people (and men especially) have always had the upper hand in this country. There is a good quote from Rachel Cargle where she says “the only way we can work towards this TRUE ‘colorless’ equality that we’re dreaming of is to ACTIVELY do the work to dismantle the oppressive systems our forefathers built…it’s not enough to just not be racist, you have to be intentionally anti-racist.” In my view, celebrating the rise of non-white, non-male, and non-Western artists in the MoMA, as Jo is doing, is on the same path as doing the work and actively speaking in an ANTI-racist way.

I kind of agree with this. These days, it seems perfectly acceptable to make assumptions and disparage white males based on their gender and colour, and nothing else. I don’t think that is right.
My son is 16, and he says he really feels the injustice of it: Men are always being mocked and put down. Not a healthy or productive dynamic, imo. Equality, justice, respect… we all deserve this.

To all those who are troubled by comments that are pro-women/POC/etc and anti-men…might you use that feeling as a better window into understanding what minorities go through on a daily basis??

White people, and men especially, have always had the upper hand in the United States. They do not need our pity.

Megan, I assure you – you do not “get” this whole inclusion and diversity “thing”. If you did, you wouldn’t have made this comment. Please take the time to educate yourself on misogyny, white supremacy, and colonialism. I’ve seen people take the journey towards better understanding the above-mentioned issues, and it’s opened up their worlds in profound and generous ways.

Within the context of the MoMA reopening, maybe this all seems frivolous; however, using your lens in other contexts costs people much more than just their representation in the art world – people are losing their health, their jobs, their homes, their actual lives. You may not be trying to be argumentative, but your lack of awareness and understanding is an affront to those affected by these destructive, compounding systems and to those trying their hardest to dismantle them.

Amanda – yes yes yes. If you’re upset by the non-white, non-male, not Western comment, CONGRATS – you have gained insight on how it is to be severely underrepresented in society today.

I would love for everyone to be viewed equally but sadly that isn’t the case and in order for it to happen, we HAVE to actively work to bring visibility of other identities into the spotlight.

Beautifully said, Ari.

I’d like to address something. Words matter–“How is it NOT racist to say “non male, not white, not western?” “-The only race-related element there is whiteness. You can speak of sexism and eurocentrism for the other two parts that you brought up.

Beyond that, there are a number of fantastic artists who are women, not heterosexual, not from Europe or the USA, not “white” and are absolutely great artists. Their work has been excluded because it simply has not fit. It also happens that throughout history the people that have been most frequently writing the histories we read are white males. They have generally valued artworks that speak to them–art that was made by people like them. This continues to be a problem and one that is present in museums, galleries, art history and even media. Here’s a letter that presents the issue of sexism in the art world.

https://news.artnet.com/opinion/womens-place-in-the-art-world-artist-adrian-piper-responds-to-our-special-report-1661554

And for some data–here are the Guerrilla Girls whose entire work is intended to demonstrate the problems behind exhibits.

https://www.guerrillagirls.com/#now