De La Cruz, Cynthia (Cynthia)

Hey everyone! I’m Cynthia and my preferred pronouns are she/her. I’m a fourth year Political Science major, Anthropology minor. Throughout my stay at UCLA I’ve explored Chicanx classes, Gender Studies, and a whole array of other classes that focused on cultures and social constructs. I’ve always wanted to take an art class and this one caught my attention the most because of the focus on Chicana artists and themes that span across many of the topics I have studied as an undergrad. Growing up in LA and the San Fernando Valley, I’ve seen all kinds of murals and street art pieces that represent so much of Latinx culture and I feel like this class could introduce me more to the world of Chicanx art.

The essays we had to read for today as well as the activity we did in class really put into perspective the reality that is the disproportionality or female artists to male artists. What made it even realer was the fact that from the women listed, I personally only recognized a handful. The essays on their own reflected on the issues that are that women aren’t given the same opportunities as men in many fields because they’ve traditionally been given the responsibility of the household and family. Through time women have been deemed as incapable of anything greater than maintaining a home and a family which is why women in are are so scarce as compared to the “great men” in art. The essays mention obstacles women face, commonly being their gender alone, their social status, economic status, and mere lack of exposure to art. Men have predominantly been taught the trade of art from their fathers and grandfathers and had been immersed into this world at young ages. But women, women have been limited to other tasks and been made “ordinary”, perceived as unable to produce great works of art like Picasso and Monet.
I found the essays to be very compelling and eye opening. Women have only just begun to make a scratch on the surface of the art world. With advances in technology and a new awakening, women are now  finding their voices through many modes of media to express themselves and make themselves heard, that they truly are capable of “genius”.