role models

TV shows House of Cards and Parks and Recreation both point important real-world dynamics. While young men have a wealth of male mentors to choose from—as well as so-called old boy networks—young women have few gender-specific examples of what success looks like.

On these shows, we see two examples of young women looking up to a singular older, female role model: House of Card's cub reporter Zoe (Kate Mara) admires rich nonprofit chief Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) and Parks and Rec's city hall staffer April (Aubrey Plaza) has Councilwoman Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) to thank for much advice and career help.

This blog series isn't just about women who produce art—it's also about the women who support and promote it. Like most industries, gender inequality is rife in the art world, but I thought it only fair to find out who is representing us and if there looks to be a shift towards more female directors of galleries and museums.

Her artistic career may have been short—she was taking photos for only nine years of her life—but Francesca Woodman left behind over 800 images when she died in 1981. She commands enough attention, 30 years after her death, to merit a retrospective at San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art, which will move on to the Guggenheim in 2012. What is the lingering hold that she has over art lovers?

The campaign for gender equality in art is essentially spearheaded by the Guerrilla Girls, a network of anonymous activists who go by the names of great artists like Frida Kahlo. Their mantra is: "We could be anyone; we are everywhere." If you’ve ever wanted to challenge your local gallery on its lack of women behind the canvas, this is the organization to teach you how to get your point across. Start taking notes on the herstory and plotting your part in the revolution...

Spurred by Raina Kelly's recent Newsweek piece about turning 40 and adopting Madonna as her role model, I've been pondering the idea of life stage role models, particularly as it relates to those of us at the quarter-life. Just who is out there for Gen Y women to look up to or to emulate?