An artful reminder of gender bias

An art exhibit at an East York college paints women in a fresh light.

Centennial College’s Carlaw Avenue campus is hosting Femme: Politics of Being a Woman in its “Corridor Gallery.” Curator Caroline Kings, a student with the school’s Fine Arts Studio program, says that she hopes the show will leave people with a broader understanding of the challenges many women have faced, and still face today in society, including gender-related discrimination and self-esteem issues.

“A lot of people don’t realize that these things are still happening,” Kings said, “Whether it’s about (your) appearance or not getting paid the same as a man might. We just want to raise awareness.”

She added that most men don’t seem to face these issues and therefore can be insensitive to them, and that while the genders are as close as they have ever been to equality, there is still a long way to go.

“Even though we may think we’re (seen as) equal, there are a lot of ways we aren’t,” she said. “Neither mentally, physically or emotionally, and it’s a problem. If we can get people to think about (things), maybe we can improve somebody’s life.”

Femme: Politics of a Woman is open to the public and runs through this Sunday, Feb. 13, in the upstairs gallery at the north end of the school, located at 951 Carlaw Avenue. It features work by Kings and many of her fellow artists, including Rachel Marie and Caitlin Moran.

About this article

By: Ryan Kavanagh
Posted: Feb 11 2011 2:01 pm
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Filed under: Arts & Life