As a woman working in pottery for 28 years now, I can tell you that this is a male dominated industry and profession. As soon as you hit a certain level the whole field goes male.
And the reason is the previous generation, not the talent of men dominating the talent of women in clay. It is because the people at the top are the ones that got there first and endured. And starting 40 years ago, about the time it takes to become an icon, you would have begun your career in 1970 and passed through women's liberation and evolution as professionals en masse.
So women are becoming as powerful as they are in public and in professional realms. They are starting to become the hirers and administrators as their career arcs reach the critical 30 year marks where real authority and power emerge.
So as a gender, we have already butched up, so much so in the general gist of the world of clay and potters over the last 50 years, that having someone tell us to do so is irksome, tone-deaf, and an indicator that the speaker has no understanding of their audience or their experience of the world.
In regular life, I own all of my decisions and take responsibility for myself and my life.
In clay life, I am mindful of my history and the potential for victories in inclusion and progress to fall away with the casual erosion of consciousness, taking our strides for granted.
Cleaning up sexist language, manners of address, casual disrespect...all of that is relevant to clay.
Women are listening to whether clay and the profession is a career where we are respected and treated as equals. Using common vernacular for our sexual organs in casual speech, telling us to butch up when we disagree vocally, circling the ol boys club wagons when we mention anything regarding this whole subject...all of that is how the establishment stays established. And I can only imagine much of that is defensive posturing and partly a bravado coming from latent guilt.
If the everyday environment is or reverts to the bullshit level I had to deal with 25 years ago when I got started, women who might love clay and want to be involved might just choose something else where being female is not a liability. And we all lose. I stayed in because I love it and I was willing to deal with the all male, hostile environment. I butched up and beat the assholes at their own game. Because that was what it took 25 years ago. It sucked. Why does it still have to be like that for our clay daughters? Why should they experience a hostile work environment because they were born a certain gender?
There are a dozen women on this list that I think are better than Don Reitz, Paul Soldner, Ron Myers, and a dozen other men whose names you all know. But they have not hit the 40 year mark. They are getting there, some of them are already there. When I got started, there were five women potters that I had ever heard of: Toshiko Taekaezu, Cynthis Bringle, Jane Pizer, Nell Cole Graves, and Judy Chicago.
The women wives of famous potters, like Picasso, are unsung workers that have made clay part of the human experience without ever being cited as even players in the game. And non-western potters? whew.
Today, I can name dozens and still not touch the surface. And I hope that in the future, women interested in clay and reading our professional journals can see themselves as equal partners in the culture of clay.
If you have a mother, a sister, a daughter, a mentor, or a favorite potter, listen to how what you say either contributes to their inclusion in this clay world or whether it alienates them from it.
The damage of millenia of being kept out of professions and marginalized is now our responsibility to clean up and make right. Every single one of us, all the time.
And I will gladly keep reminding people that Lili, and many of the women who wrote me off list to thank me for not standing down, care and notice what you say and how you say it. It indicates your unconscious bias and sexist assumptions when you don't even realize that you might be perceived as a clueless relic of a damaged generation. You may even be an awesome friend, father, and potter. But that doesn't relieve you of your responsibility to change in the areas where you fail. We all have to do better to make it better.
This is not a feminist screed. This is a reminder that we have endured and overcome something that being born male spared you from ever needing to consider. And young women who have no clue what I am talking aobut and wonder what the fuss is all about...you're welcome. I don't look for this stuff. I lived through it so hard and so long that I see it clearly. If I actually said anything every time I saw evidence of this problem...well, that would be obnoxious.
We ladies climbed Everest right here at home.
And the reason is the previous generation, not the talent of men dominating the talent of women in clay. It is because the people at the top are the ones that got there first and endured. And starting 40 years ago, about the time it takes to become an icon, you would have begun your career in 1970 and passed through women's liberation and evolution as professionals en masse.
So women are becoming as powerful as they are in public and in professional realms. They are starting to become the hirers and administrators as their career arcs reach the critical 30 year marks where real authority and power emerge.
So as a gender, we have already butched up, so much so in the general gist of the world of clay and potters over the last 50 years, that having someone tell us to do so is irksome, tone-deaf, and an indicator that the speaker has no understanding of their audience or their experience of the world.
In regular life, I own all of my decisions and take responsibility for myself and my life.
In clay life, I am mindful of my history and the potential for victories in inclusion and progress to fall away with the casual erosion of consciousness, taking our strides for granted.
Cleaning up sexist language, manners of address, casual disrespect...all of that is relevant to clay.
Women are listening to whether clay and the profession is a career where we are respected and treated as equals. Using common vernacular for our sexual organs in casual speech, telling us to butch up when we disagree vocally, circling the ol boys club wagons when we mention anything regarding this whole subject...all of that is how the establishment stays established. And I can only imagine much of that is defensive posturing and partly a bravado coming from latent guilt.
If the everyday environment is or reverts to the bullshit level I had to deal with 25 years ago when I got started, women who might love clay and want to be involved might just choose something else where being female is not a liability. And we all lose. I stayed in because I love it and I was willing to deal with the all male, hostile environment. I butched up and beat the assholes at their own game. Because that was what it took 25 years ago. It sucked. Why does it still have to be like that for our clay daughters? Why should they experience a hostile work environment because they were born a certain gender?
There are a dozen women on this list that I think are better than Don Reitz, Paul Soldner, Ron Myers, and a dozen other men whose names you all know. But they have not hit the 40 year mark. They are getting there, some of them are already there. When I got started, there were five women potters that I had ever heard of: Toshiko Taekaezu, Cynthis Bringle, Jane Pizer, Nell Cole Graves, and Judy Chicago.
The women wives of famous potters, like Picasso, are unsung workers that have made clay part of the human experience without ever being cited as even players in the game. And non-western potters? whew.
Today, I can name dozens and still not touch the surface. And I hope that in the future, women interested in clay and reading our professional journals can see themselves as equal partners in the culture of clay.
If you have a mother, a sister, a daughter, a mentor, or a favorite potter, listen to how what you say either contributes to their inclusion in this clay world or whether it alienates them from it.
The damage of millenia of being kept out of professions and marginalized is now our responsibility to clean up and make right. Every single one of us, all the time.
And I will gladly keep reminding people that Lili, and many of the women who wrote me off list to thank me for not standing down, care and notice what you say and how you say it. It indicates your unconscious bias and sexist assumptions when you don't even realize that you might be perceived as a clueless relic of a damaged generation. You may even be an awesome friend, father, and potter. But that doesn't relieve you of your responsibility to change in the areas where you fail. We all have to do better to make it better.
This is not a feminist screed. This is a reminder that we have endured and overcome something that being born male spared you from ever needing to consider. And young women who have no clue what I am talking aobut and wonder what the fuss is all about...you're welcome. I don't look for this stuff. I lived through it so hard and so long that I see it clearly. If I actually said anything every time I saw evidence of this problem...well, that would be obnoxious.
We ladies climbed Everest right here at home.
TIP:
Enter the amount, and click "Tip" to submit!
fingerlakeswanderer
zanelle
Are You Talking French?
Greer McVay
bluestocking babe
Brent Troth
Salon.com
Comments
Congratulations! And thank you.
good manifesto, strong testimony, brave and admirable work