The importance of Gender in representations and attitudes towards art. A qualitative study

Abstract

This paper analyzes the importance of gender in the shaping of representations and attitudes towards art among university students, on the basis of an exploratory research with focus groups. Examining the issues, oppositions and positions that emerge in discourses, and the kind of relation to art they show, we state that men and women share the same symbolic universe concerning art. Although subtle differences of degree or intensity are found which can be attributed to gender, these differences cannot be reduced to homogeneous and radically opposed blocks. The analysis of agent‟s incorporated structures of perception and appreciation opens the way to a better understanding of gender inequalities in art and culture and of the complex mechanisms that contribute to their reproduction.