Friday, January 22nd, 2010...11:50 am
Women In Photoshop
A debate took place on Twitter and Facebook that was spurred by one of the questions I asked Lesa in her interview yesterday. In the question I referred to Photoshop as a “Boys Club” and used some members of the Kelby Media Group to back up my point. It was then argued that there were plenty of outstanding women in the field of Photoshop and that most, if not – all, of them worked for the Kelby Media company. So just to be clear, I want to talk this out.
First, I really want it to be absolutely clear that the idea of “Kelby needs to hire more women” is NOT the point I was trying to illustrate with my comment. I actually know that there are plenty of women that are on staff at NAPP and there are so many of them that I think, in fact, I KNOW the men would be completely lost without them. It is even my suspicion that the women on staff actually outnumber the men, although I can’t confirm that statement. Which is why the question said “Photoshop” and not “Kelby Media Group”.
Second, I do believe that there is a lack of visible women in the industry of Photoshop and Photography and that the ratio of visible men to visible women is staggering! And by visible, I mean “well known”, “published”, or even “famous” if you will. Does that mean that there aren’t outstanding women in either field? No way. But if you were to try to count all of the prominent women in both fields that you knew of off the top of your head, my guess is that you would stop counting before you reached twenty. Now, do I think this is due to some sort of discrimination against women? Again, no way! I think that in this day and age we, as a race, have grown far enough along to even the equality scales between men and women. However, do I feel that there are still women out there that don’t know how to become visible in this career, or are somehow intimidated even though they possess what it takes? You betcha.
If anything, I was hoping that the question would inspire other women to follow in Lesa’s footsteps. To be brave, to try new things even though they scare you, to push yourself to make the deadline, to run along side and keep up with the men, to be the best in your specialty, to come out on top – Lesa has done it all and I wanted to know what that was like from her point of view because I thought I, and other women, could relate.
I stand by my original statement that Photoshop is a “Boy’s Club” …for now. But, you had better believe that I am doing my part to add one more woman to the list for you to count. And I have a feeling that I am not the only one. After all, it’s thanks to Lesa and the other women that work for the Kelby Media Group that gives us the drive to do so.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Firgs, Aimee Ford. Aimee Ford said: RT @Firgs rticle: Women In Photoshop – http://designbyfirgs.com/blog/2010/01/women-in-photoshop/ #design #photoshop #inspiration [...]
I agree it is a “boys club” I went to Photoshop world in Vegas (by myself) and even though I had tons of fun and learned a lot, I felt very much like I was “trying to fit in” to a very male dominated venue. I don’t think they do it on purpose but really, a football themed conference…lol Not that it wasn’t fun or even funny but at least have some more female teachers and admit that many women photographers and photoshop artists DO have a feminine touch to their work. I know some will disagree with me but women art does have a different feel to it and I feel empowered seeing women art and how it is different from that of the opposite sex. Just my $.02
I’ve been to several Photoshop World Conferences and have seen a growing number of women participants. However, I think the number of women instructors has grown less rapidly. I do agree that the themes are mainly masculine (football, boxing, etc.) and some of the teaching content appeals more to men than women. I would love to see more strong, creative women in the leadership roles, too. Having said that, I feel very comfortable at the events with both instructors and other participants – and learn quite effectively!
Ladies, thank you both for sharing your points of view on PSW.
I would like to remind everyone though that this article is not about PSW, or Scott Kelby. It is about motivating women to become stronger in the field of Photoshop in general.
Thank you.
This is why my initial reaction to your twitter update was what it was…
In my own personal belief, I do not think that KMG should go out specifically looking for female instructors. I think they have done a good job at attracting great instructors regardless of their gender. I am not saying that there aren’t any female instructors out there that are better than the men they hire. But for you to say that they should hire more female instructors just for the sole reason that there aren’t enough goes back to affirmative action programs and is wrong.
I think that they do a good job at catering to their main demographic which, as it was stated, contains more men than women. But that is changing as KarenB said where she has noticed more women participants. But I know a lot of women who love football and I saw everyone laughing equally hard during the keynote at the conference… seeing as how the theme of the show is only really present in the keynote and the layout of the book cover. Very little else has anything to do with the theme at all.
I am a bit baffled by your comment about female artwork having a feminine touch. I’ve never been able to make a connection between content or style with gender of the artist. I know that every artist has their own style. But to be able to look at a piece of art and say whether the artist was a male or female is not possible without knowing other data points.
In the end I think that people should look at others without thinking of gender, race, disability, etc but rather look at them based on the skill that they possess in the industry at which they work.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Scott Kelby, and NAPP, are very proud of the fact that when we all talk about “photoshop” so many of us think of it synonymously with “NAPP.” I know it’s my favorite photoshop venue.
Interesting topic
My photoshop, digital photo & photo 101 classes are always filled with way more female students than guys.
As I said before my initial reaction to the question was the same as many others in that I thought you were making implications as to the hiring practices of KMG. I think that is because of the term “Boys Club”. If the question was worded differently I think you would have avoided a lot of the controversy.
As the father of a 10 year old girl who is rapidly gaining interest in photography and Photoshop, I love hearing about your goal of getting more women involved in the industry. My daughter already has Adobe CS3 installed on her iBook and creates most of her drawings in Illustrator instead of on actual paper. Keep up the fight!!!