Blog 5
To become an artist, one needs the means with which to do so. As Virginia Woolf said, an artist needs a room of their own and a suitable income to live off of. Put together, these things obviously equate independence. This type of independence comes naturally to white men. They are able to get jobs and are expected to have their own space. All women were expected to stay home and clean and care for children. Their freetime belonged to their children and thier husband and they did not get their own space. Blacks, who were slaves, had even less options for independence. Poopr people too have less freetime an money because they spend all their time working at low-income jobs. Thus, those groups with limited independence have less space and time in which to be creative and cannot be traditional artists.
One stereotype about art relates to different kinds of art. Generally, only people who create traditional forms of art (literature, paintings, etc.) are considered real artists. Thus, many who create art are not considered artists. Traditional African American art forms like quilting are ignored. Alice Walker's poor black mother only had time and resources to garden, but she made her garden into a work of art. Although these people are artists, their work is not considered art. Thus, only privileged people with free time and money can be artists in our society.