The issue of women, art, and feminism has been most urgently raised by

The issue of women, art, and feminism has been most urgently raised by a number of women artists. Several approaches to the problem of defining feminist art have evolved and are being discussed and developed within the feminist art movement. One particular approach has suggested that some sort of female aesthetic or sensibility exists, involving an imagery and formal style specific to women. Proponents insist that an authentic artistic language is being created, corresponding to the distinct social experience of women, independent of “male-defined” art, and essentially liberating. Others argue that the theory of a female aesthetic really restricts women in that it limits them to certain “feminine” shapes, colors, forms, and images. In other words, the female aesthetic seems possibly to be no more than a rehabilitated artistic ghetto, furbished with less than satisfactory answers to the hard question of how to define feminist art. Moreover, some see the rise of a trendy “feminine sensibility“ as clearly opportunist. They point, for example, to the odd coincidence that the so-called female aesthetic is strangely reminiscent of the conventions of much currently fashionable art, and they predict further shifts in the aesthetic as art-world fashions change.

The theory of a female sensibility seems to be based on two equally extreme premises, implicit and not explicit. First, it assumes that an individual’s experience is primarily and perhaps completely determined by gender. Women and men are held to inhabit utterly separate worlds, and variations of social or ethnic experience are considered clearly subordinate to gender distinctions. Its second assumption is that whatever exists today must be essentially unchangeable as the battle of the sexes is eternal and historical. It follows, then, that the only way women artists can operate is to accept these terms and develop their own artistic strengths, autonomously and in opposition to men.

Another approach, both balanced and sensible, would argue for a more transcendental view of social experience and of art. Such a point of view corresponds to the opinion within some sectors of the women’s movement that the meaning of one’s personhood and the nature of relationships between the sexes are an evolving phenomena that can be grasped and acted upon. Pat Mainardi has outlined one interpretation of what this might mean for women artists: “The only feminine aesthetic worthy of the name is that women artists must be free to explore the entire range of art possibilities. We who have been labeled, stereotyped, and gerrymandered out of the very definition of art must be free to define art, not to pick up the crumbs from the Man’s table … We must begin to define women’s art as what women (artists) do, not try to slip and squeeze ourselves through the loophole of the male art world.”

1. Which of the following titles best describes the content of the passage?

(A) The Impact of the Women's Art Movement on Aesthetic Theory
(B) The Female Aesthetic: It’s Impact on Artistic Conventions
(C) An Examination of the Principles and Assumptions of the Theory of a Female Aesthetic
(D) Feminism, Women's Liberation, and Aesthetic Theory : Social Change and Women's Art
(E) The Uniqueness of Women's Art in the Male Art World



2. According to the author, proponents of the theory of a female sensibility would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements about the “imagery and formal style specific to women” mentioned in lines 8-9 (Highlighted)?

(A) They are expressions of dissent from prevailing theories of aesthetics in the women's art movement.
(B) They exist because the female aesthetic has enabled women artists to become part of the traditional, male—defined art world.
(C) Their use of color and shape is demonstrably superior to those styles associated with the male—dominated tradition in art.
(D) Their connection with feminism obscures their centrality as the basis of an aesthetic theory.
(E) They have evolved because the experiences of female artists are radically different from those of male artist.



3. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) initiate a debate
(B) summarize related points of view
(C) define terms and illustrate their applications
(D) criticize an approach and suggest an alternative one
(E) criticize competing theories


4. The phrase 'rehabilitated artistic ghetto' in lines 18-19 (Highlighted) suggests that the author believes that one consequence of the female aesthetic might be to

(A) continue to deny women artists access to the' whole realm of artistic choices
(B) restrict women artists' opportunities to
influence male opinions of women's art
(C) emphasize the difficult questions feminist artists pose about male definitions of art
(D) produce a series of shifting trends in the form and style of art produced by women
(E) weaken the influence of artistic fashion on pictorial 'conventions


5. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would most probably agree with which of the following statements about relationships between men and women?

(A) Women can develop their own talents most successfully by working completely independently of men.
(B) Women and men share no common ground of personal experience.
(C) The contemporary relationships between men and women should not affect the work of women artists.
(D) Relationships between men and women are not static and can be influenced by new ideas about women's identities.
(E) A consequence of the nature of relationships between men and women is that women can develop their art only by seeing men as opponents.


6. According to the passage, objections that have been raised by opponents of a theory of a female sensibility include which of the following?

I. The theory restricts women artists' full exploration of artistic ideas.
II. The theory is over influenced by popular (rends in art.
III. The theory overemphasizes both gender and social distinctions.

(A) I only
(B) III only
(C) I and II only
(D) I and III only
(E) I, II, and III


7. The author's attitude toward proponents of the theory of a female sensibility can be best described as

(A) ambivalent
(B) indignant
(C) disappointed
(D) exasperated
(E) critical


8. According to the passage theorists who believe that a female aesthetic exists would agree with all of the following statements EXCEPT:

(A) Women artists must accept the fact that the current state of male—female relationships is permanent.
(B) Women creating a feminist art use images in a way no male artist would.
(C) Women who create works illustrative of the female aesthetic must conform to current conventions of art—world fashions.
(0) Complete independence from the influence of male artists and the male experience is essential to the creation of women's art.
(E) Establishment of a specifically female style may free women artists from the restrictions inherent in an art world dominated by male definitions of experience.


9. The author quotes Pat Mainardi (lines 54-64) (Text in Red) in order to

(A) amplify the arguments of the proponents of a female aesthetic
(B) elaborate on another approach to the problem of defining feminist art
(C) show how women artists themselves view the impact of relationships between men and women on their art.
(D) explain the current interpretation within the women's movement of a female aesthetic
(E) compare Mainardi's interpretation of the significance of an artist's gender with that of proponents of a female aesthetic