Why do people associate creativity with femininity?

Question

Were Beethoven, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Mozart, Stravinsky, and Mussorgsky feminine? I do think so. They were all very creative individuals though. However, I think that men and women tend to express it differently, and the 60's hippy airy-fairy definition of creativity gave it a bad name, and has drawn people away from it, associating it with anti-logic, anti-intellectual, anti-rational stuff, where most of the classical inventors and originators would agree that it's a highly logical and complex unconscious process in the mind that allows it to create/synthesize something like a vision at once, and methodically apply it to the outside world.

Do you agree people these days should be taught in schools and colleges to think differently about creativity (more like a skill and a science as well as an art), and be more open minded about it?

Answer 1

I sort of agree but times-are-a-changin' thankfully.

In 1978 i won a place at college to do a science degree: BSc Psychology.

Hated it - too much math and stats.

Anyway I switched to a Drama/Dance/Music degree and my parents were less than happy.

My elder brothers were rugby playing, macho louts and did Law at University.

Anyway I trained as a dancer/singer/actor and those were the best years of my life.

Wasn't that difficult at the audition for the course because way more women auditioned than men. Suited me cos I was a beginner and I got away with not being as good as the women at the audition!

I suppose there is a stigma - or at least there was.

Dunno about nowadays cos I started college 30 years ago and now I live in San Francisco and I am g*y so we flamboyant, creative types are in the majority.

Answer 2

Well that would be a gender stereotype, since not all females are creative, nor do all people associate creativity with females :-)

Answer 3

I'm not sure you can teach people to think creatively.

Creativity, like any other mode of thinking, ought to be inspired in school.  It's the inspiration that is so lacking in education.  Administrators and legislators have completely misunderstood the learning problem in the U.S.  They react by administering MORE tests and MORE straight-forward, down-your-throat didactic methods which leave kids even LESS inspired to learn than they were before.  It's a vicious cycle right now.

To your question, I think creativity could potentially be associated with liberalism, as you hinted.  But it might only be given an automatic "bad" or "feminine" connotation by hyperconservatives who fear change.

Our modernization has moved us toward efficiency and standardization, which leave no room for creativity.  More often than being seen as "bad" or "feminine,"  I think it is perceived as wasteful.

Answer 4

...especially when you look at art history into the modern age and you see the overwhelming amount of men that excel.

Answer 5

I do think that creativity is connected with femininity because it tends to be motivated by emotion. Emotionality has long been thought of as a feminine characteristic.  I don't think that art should be taught like a science because science is based on knowns. Art should be based on the unknown, the imagined and the created rather than the study of what already exists. True creativity can not flourish if it is bound by Scientific boundaries.

Answer 6

The Dude!

We are socialized to believe that some forms of creativity are masculine and some are feminine.  I'm sure we could list a ton of examples of that.  

A man could get across that divide if he made enough money at being creative--like clothing designers.  Then people would think, "oh, he made a lot of money at that, so I bet money was the motivation, not the desire to create girly skirts and shoes".  

A good start to fixing the situation is for all of us to kill our TVs.

Answer 7

I couldn't agree more.  The best creators/problem solvers in my opinion is the U.S. military.  Think about this way.  Let's make a list of everything that's a improvement to life in the 20th century.  Ready:  chocolate, cell phones, t.v., cable, internet, computers.  Just to name a few, all have came from the military, or something that's related to war.