Why Must a Woman Be Naked to Get in a Museum?

A woman often needs to be naked to be represented in a museum because, despite making up a significant portion of art students, female artists are severely underrepresented in galleries, museums, and collections, while female nudes constitute a disproportionately high percentage of the art displayed. For instance, in the Modern Art section of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, only 4% of the artists represented are women, yet 76% of the nudes are female. This disparity highlights a cultural issue where women's bodies are frequently displayed as objects, while their artistic voices and contributions are marginalized. The article begins with an anecdote about a young woman prioritizing her boyfriend's art career over her own, illustrating a broader pattern of women giving away their power in the art world. It then delves into statistics from major institutions like the Guggenheim, Metropolitan Museum, Whitney, MoMA, Centre Pompidou, Hayward Gallery, and Tate Modern, all showing low percentages of solo exhibitions for women artists. This imbalance, as the Guerrilla Girls state, makes it 'not the history of art but the history of power,' underscoring the urgent need for cultural change to ensure all voices are included in art.