Huerta, Yakima

Hello, my name is Yakima Huerta. I am a second year Economics major with a minor in Chicano studies. I have an interest in accounting and consulting, perhaps I will go to graduate school to further expand on these subjects. I am not entirely sure how my minor will incorporate into my career, but I am drawn to Chicano studies, so therefore I have declared it as my minor. I have very little knowledge regarding art, except for Art History 20, which I took at UCLA my first year, but it was about ancient Egyptian and Greek art. I do find art fascinating, but I do not classify myself as a “creative” person.

In Linda Nochlin’s essay “Why have there been no great women artists?,” she discusses how society accepts the White and male viewpoint as the viewpoint. I have learned about the normality of Whiteness in previous courses, but this is the first time I have read a piece which also ties art into this construct. Now that I think of it, most of the well known artists the common person knows are men. During the class exercise where we had to write the visual artists we knew, I- a person with very little knowledge regarding this subject- jotted down the name of four males and one woman.

To answer her question, Nochlin discusses the restriction that women endured while pursuing art. Reading about how the “ladies” were not allowed to paint nude models, but were allowed to model in the nude for men was frustrating. This was an example on how institutions played a role in the achievement of the artist. Not allowing women to do important and popular art and forcing them to practice stagnant pieces was a limitation that prohibited them to advance as far as men did, even if they were equally or far more talented.