Many Archive-It partners are raising awareness against bias, stereotypes, and discrimination faced by women by documenting important feminist cultural heritage. One such example is the collection Issues in Women's Rights curated by McGill University School of Information Studies. The archived websites in this collection highlight past and present issues in women’s rights and explore how overlapping identities of religion, race, and sexual orientation impact experiences of oppression.
In honour of International Women’s Day on telegram number database March 8th and Women’s History Month, here are three thematic public collections from Archive-It partners that showcase women taking action for equality.
Breaking the bias in the art world
The art world has long been a space dominated by men that works to uphold oppressive structures and rigid gender roles, from the lack of inclusion of female artists in galleries to the lack of equal respect and pay for artists, curators, academics, and critics alike.
Guerilla Girls, an anonymous group of female artists started in New York City in 1985, are devoted to fighting against such gender inequality and sexism in the visual fine arts world. Donning gorilla masks to remain anonymous, they use art as a medium to disrupt mainstream narratives and expose inherent biases. Their motto emphasizes how breaking the bias is an ongoing effort rather than a specific moment in time, and the best we can all do is to “keep chipping away.”
The New York University preserved some of their efforts in their collection: Fales Library: Guerrilla Girls. Within the archived sites, you can find art projects, videos, lectures, exhibitions, and action projects by all three Guerilla Girls groups, which split into three organizations in 2001: the original Guerilla Girls, the touring theater group Guerilla Girls on Tour, and Guerrilla Girls Broadband, which focuses on digital technologies. Also included in this collection is The Male Graze, a commission for the UK’s 2021 Art Night festival which explores bad male behavior through the lens of art history.