The Guerrilla Girls are a group of radical feminists who
word out, and encourage supporters to participate by buying their
formed in 1985 when they noticed a very disproportionate number of
books and printing out their posters and stickers to put up themselves.
male artists compared to female artists in an exhibition at the Mu-
Their goal is to “redefine the f-word”. The f-word, meaning feminism,
seum of Modern Art in New York City. There were 169 artists total.
has developed a negative stereotype of uptight, bra-burning, un-
Only 13 of them were female and even fewer were non-white. They
shaven man-haters, but the Guerrilla Girls strive to disprove that
are completely anonymous, all-female, and they use the names of
stereotype. They quote, “We believe feminism is a fundamental way
dead female artists as pseudonyms. They wear gorilla masks in pub-
of looking at the world and recognizing that half of us are female and
lic to hide their identities and, as they say, to focus on the issues in-
all of us should be equal. It’s a fact of history that for centuries women
stead of their personalities. They call themselves the “conscience of
have not had the rights and privileges of men and it’s time for that to
society” because they call attention to both feminist & universal is-
end. Despite the tremendous gains of women over the last hundred
sues that are largely ignored, but very prevalent. They started out fo-
years, misogyny – the hatred or hostility towards women as a whole
cusing mainly on lack of representation of women and people of color
– is still rampant throughout our culture & in the larger world.” Many
in the art world, and still do work in that area, but have also expanded
people are simply misinformed and don’t want to be associated with
their focus to include issues like abortion, homelessness, war, world
feminism even though they support feminist issues. They want to
hunger, body image, affirmative action, and most recently, racism and
show people that feminists can be funny and witty, but can also get
sexism in the film industry. They use humor and sarcasm to get peo-
down to business.
ples’ attention, which sparks meaningful discussions on serious topics. They use mediums such as snappy and colorful posters, stickers, billboards, books, protests, presentations, and workshops to get the
They're funny, they're smart, and at least one of them thinks they're sexier with their masks on.
In 2001, the Guerrilla Girls split into 3 groups. Guerrilla Girls, Inc. was established by two founding members and does most of the work that the Guerrilla Girls are known for including writing the books, creating the posters, and traveling the world to talk about feminist issues. They are pretty much the continuation of the original group. GuerrillaGirlsBroadBand explore the issues of sexism, racism, and social injustice in the technological world. Guerrilla Girls On Tour are a theater group who create original plays, do performances on many levels, and host workshops and residency programs about women's history and women and people of colors' lack of opportunity in the performing arts. Their operation has expanded much further than they could have ever imagined. They didn't expect that women all over the world would identify with their cause and feel that they spoke for their collective anger. They don't actually know how many Guerrilla Girls there are now, they say it could be millions. The Guerrilla Girls have written three books, which are equally as witty, sarcastic and flashy as the rest of their modes of communication. Bitches, Bimbos, and Ballbreakers is all about female stereotypes. It examines the history, significance, evolution, and manifestations of these stereotypes and uses real and fictional women as examples. The Guerrilla Girls' Art Museum Activity Book is about the corruption within art museums in terms of how they use their money and what artists are represented.
The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside
Companion to the History of Western Art outlines the past 2,000 years of Western Art from the female perspective and is even used as a textbook in Art History classes. It includes the biographies of many female artists, both famous and virtually unknown, and answers some questions about the origins of the current situation for females in the art world.
So why did the Guerrilla Girls chose the gorilla mask as their disguise? No one is quite sure, but one story tells that a founding member accidentally wrote "gorilla" when trying to spell "guerrilla" and the idea took off from there. They wanted to stay anonymous, but the press wanted pictures, so gorilla masks were their famed solution. They also liked how the gorilla mask was an unlikely juxtaposition with their feminine image. Similarly, they actually chose to be called girls instead of women because it went against social norms that give the word 'girl' a negative connotation, even though it has offended some that claim that 'girls' won't be taken seriously. They wanted to reclaim the word and they compare it to the example of the gay community reclaiming the word 'queer'. And of course 'guerrilla' refers to guerrilla warfare. They wanted to keep people guessing about where they were going to strike next. The Guerrilla Girls have received criticism ranging from their masks to their refusal to admit men into the group, but they are not intimidated by it. They are also not closed-minded to change. When they were asked about admitting men into the group, they said that they are an all-female group because women are the only ones who have fully experienced the type of discrimination that they are fighting against, but they are "thinking about it". They claim to have a very diverse group (although no one outside the group would know for sure) and they don't have any one system for making decisions about what issues to fight for or how to represent them, but they have many different perspectives, which works to their advantage and disadvantage. They say that sometimes they fight like cats and dogs and can't agree on anything, but they also have a well-rounded team in which each individual has different strengths and weaknesses that can complement each other to make huge strides in the name of feminism.
WHAT HAVE PEOPLE SAID ABOUT THE GUERRILLA GIRLS? • The posters were rude; they named names and they printed statistics. They embarassed people. In other words, they worked. —Susan Tallman, Arts Magazine
• Their very anonymity makes clear that they are fighting for women as a caste, but their message celebrates each woman's uniqueness. By insisting on a world as if women mattered, and also the joy of getting there, the Guerrilla Girls pass the ultimate test: they make us both laugh and fight; both happy and strong. —Gloria Steinem
• The Guerrilla Girls present our facts of life...making the art world take notice and face up to the enormous disparity between the sexes. —Maya Lin
• Making those in power accountable, raising public awareness and inspiring other groups to do the same, the Guerrilla Girls are not only making waves in the art world, they're making the F-word fashionable again. —Paula Shutkever, Everywomen Magazine
• Their weapons of terror....are irony and rhetoric rather than rubber bullets and gelignite. —Guy Trebay,The Village Voice.
AAAA HOOOO!!!! Group Members of this project are: Vanessa Ramirez - Art Director Izzy Scott - Writer/Researcher Emma Miravalle - Researcher