[100 Challenge] Roberta Gattel_21

Why have there been no great women artists? Linda Nochlin, 1971

How many of us have been victims of the myth of the Genie? Or that of the cursed artist? Mainstream culture has always presented famous artists, writers, and scientists as "geniuses": creative personalities outside the norm who already possessed exceptional qualities from birth. Usually, as in the case of artists, these outstanding qualities also gave them a dark side, which made them different from other “mortals.” From when we are little to when we grow up, we are bombarded with images and stories that paint some characters (note that they are almost always white men) as aliens who have come to Earth to help humans change the world. They are semi-divinities, Prometheus. This is a harmful rhetoric that, despite the fifty years since the publication of Nochlin's essay continues to survive and thrive today. In the words of the Writer, the genius as a "golden nugget" is a degrading mythology because it limits us instead of inspiring us. I lived this mythology as a student, when the cultural references I looked to seemed unattainable, when none of my qualities resembled those required by the system, and when my strengths were not recognized. I read the biographies of those I loved, hoping to find something I had too, not to feel semi-divine but to see them as semi-human. So I spent hours in the childhood of Dostoevsky, Leopardi, Bach, and Proust, but the more I read about them, the more documentaries I watched, the more I saw the signs of exception and excellence, signs of which there was no trace in my childhood. I also saw the same mythology as a teacher in my students when they felt small and inadequate, realizing they did not possess the magical element of genius. I saw the same sense of disappointment and failure in them that I had also felt. It is difficult to imagine the future as a horizon of possibilities and personal satisfaction when the success of the brilliant person embodies the ideal of fulfillment. It’s clear that if you are not a brilliant person, you will not be able to reach that target. There will be only leftovers and anonymity for you, even as a child. How do you live your youth? How can you grow if you are convinced you have already lost from the start? If the world doesn't allow you to be the genius you are not?

Genius is not innate; it's not a seed that sprouts at a certain point, and if you If you don't have it, you're a barren landfield. This is the message that passes from mainstream culture and that Linda Nochlin dismantles piece by piece. Genius is a word, but before being a word, it is an idea. We can all be brilliant because there are as many geniuses as there are intelligences. If not all intelligences are still recognized as such, there are still many geniuses who are not valued.

The brilliant person is not the one who has the neurons with the most powerful engine, but the one who manages to continue to grow and change, nourishing their curiosity, recognizing what their talents are, cultivating them with perseverance and sacrifice, believing in them, pushing the bar higher and higher. This is why brilliant people are rare: not because people with good qualities are rare but because good qualities are not enough. Geniuses are not born; they are made.