That is quite a start for your blog, Susan. I have to admit I started skimming after a while. But yup, as one who taught sociology for 15 years to college students and paid a lot of attention to the gender/race/economic bias over the years since the civil rights and feminist movements raised my "Aha!" moments, I agree with you on most all counts. Despite lots of strides in the right direction in the university towns, academia, among enlightened sons and daughters (who nevertheless, like all of us, have incorporated the major cultural biases) the inequalities and biases are still present. Not as bad, and recognized as politically incorrect, but still there. And all one has to do is look at the prices of ceramic work, and the names, to see that men command higher prices, usually. There is an interesting dynamic that is commonly voiced, which is that if you have the guts to price your piece high, it will attract buyers more than a fine piece priced low. The message that seems to be conveyed is that if it has a low/modest price, it must not be very good. And I think women, particularly "emerging artisits," don't have as much guts as men about pricing. We are fearful of over valuing ourselves. However, and this is interesting, when I look at the names of workshop presenters at clay studios and places like Anderson Ranch, there are a lot of women presenters. I haven't counted them up and compared, but I might....do fine women potters make better hands-on teachers? Find a niche in that circuit?
