The problem with the division between males and females, as it pertains to the performance arena, is most obvious in the way artists are categorized by the industries in which they work. On Oscar night, for instance, there is no "best actor of all" category, where Meryl or Anthony could presumably compete against one another. Instead the "actresses" are lumped together and the "actors" are lumped together and compete against each other. This is ludicrous because this division by gender is, fundamentally, based entirely on the function of their sex organs! If we look at the history of women in the workforce, it is still presumed that women are not able to compete against men in an all-encompassing category - the proverbial glass ceiling. It's the same with sports. It was a big deal last week when a Canadian female hockey player was "allowed" to play professionally on an all-male team. Joni often cites the women impressionist painters who were never allowed to be a part of the Arts academy in Paris, simply because they were women, as an example of this segregation. She calls it a form of bigotry. In many cases, their art was as good or better than the male artists who were allowed to be members of the academy. It's sort of this "old boys club" mentality where they are left to make all the important contributions and get recognition for it while the "little women" are left to talk about domestic details in the back kitchen. I think Joni resents not being able to compete against Dylan or Santana or Cohen. The subtext of being lumped together with the women is that she's really good...for a woman. In fact, she's the best...as far as women are concerned. And that's too bad, because as far as I'm concerned (a man!) she beats them all, hands down, in terms of creative vision and devotion to art. Perhaps if there wasn't this segregation by sex in the competition categories more people may take note of the art itself, rather than the gender of the person producing it. -Andrew [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:Catherine wrote
> Hey, it ain't me, Fred - Joni's constantly complaining > about being called the best *female* or *woman* > singer/ songwriter/ whatever. I think when it comes to > talent, a person's sex shouldn't make any difference. > I have a hard time with the actor/actress thing too - > I'm too used to saying actress when it's a woman. > Alhough men and women are both singers, not singers > and singesses. We're awfully inconsistent about that. > Well, in an odd sort of way, females have the better of it in terms of clarity of terminology. For example, I could say that Anthony Hopkins is my favorite actor, but the listener would not know if I meant he was my favorite male actor or my favorite overall actor. Because of the 'standard' carelessness of speakers in general ( as well as the logic 101 of it), I could also say that Meryl Streep is my favorite actress, and one would still not know whether she was also my overall favorite. But if I call Meryl my favorite actor (as I often do), there is no doubt what I mean. There is no simple term available for me to convey the same thought about a male. I think women can also be songstresses, in theory paving the way for a parallel clarity to the actor /actress terms noted above. As in, "Joni Mitchell is my favorite singer" (leaving no doubt where there already was none). :-) Bob'sart Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now
