Where Are All The Women Artists?

At this point I've finished reading "Believing is Seeing".  I really enjoyed this book because of the clear, concise explanations accompanied by the visual piece of artwork.  I loved how the book described the chronological changes in "art" throughout the years.  She didn't miss a beat!  I want to have my next AP art students read this over the summer before school.  I think this book is unbiased and very informative!

As for the article "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?" by Linda Nochlin, I have different feelings.  I think she asked fantastic questions throughout the article, however I'm not sure her answers really answered anything for me.  Quite frankly, Nochlin continued to create confusion for me as the article progressed.  She was simply throwing words into the void.

"There are no women equivalents for Michelangelo or Remrandt, Delacroix or Cezanne, Picasso or Matisese, or even, in very recent times, for de Koonight or Warhol, any more than there are black American equivalents for the same.  If there actually were large numbers of "hidden" great women artists, or if there really, should be different standards for women's art as opposed to men's--and one can't have it both ways--then what are feminists fighting for? If women have in fact achieved the same status as men in the arts, then the status quo is fine as it is."

This is one of the places where Nochlin actually gives me an answer, however her answer states how each should have different standards, which leaves us as women-hopeless.  Why should we have different standards, it puts us on a different level.

I think the simple answer to "Where Are All The Women Artists?" - is that women weren't given the same opportunity as men, to be educated in the arts.  Which left women without the tools to become masters of the arts like Michelangelo or Rembrandt etc.  These women didn't have the opportunity to build their skills or even toy with the option to have the potential of reaching the quality of work we see in museums across the world.