When I first heard the Guerrilla Girls were visiting the U of A, I was skeptical. We have all heard the false stereotypes of feminists, (man-hating extremists) and I was unsure of what the performance would be like. I pictured a bunch of punk women wildly screaming around on stage. I was pleasantly surprised to be in front of the two founding members of the Guerrilla Girls, who were not like that at all. They put forth smart, witty, and clever facts presented through hilarious “advertisements,” billboards, pictures, and skits. Did I mention their whole performance was done with Gorilla masks on?
One of my favorite sarcastic presentations included a list of “The Advantages of Being A Woman Artist,” and a poster that read: “Do Women Have to Be Naked To Get Into The Met. Museum?” (This included a painting of a naked woman with a Gorilla mask on.) Their posters and flyers over the years have gotten a lot of attention, resulting in a great deal of improvement for women artists. The Guerilla Girls work globally to promote better opportunities for women in politics, art, and culture, including women of minority. They have created over 100 posters since they began their activism in 1985. In 2003, one of their projects included putting up billboards in Hollywood to promote awareness of the small percentage of women screenwriters, directors, cinematographers, and camera operators in the film industry.
Focusing on the Oscars, they emphasized that the majority of winners were white men and they helped to advocate change.
After many years, the Guerilla Girls are still going strong, and with help from other women, (and men!) they can continue to spread their message and help to create more opportunities for women.
Visit their website to learn more and see their entertaining work:
http://www.guerillagirls.com/
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Arizona chapter.