ABSTRACT
This chapter systematically analyzes existing research on gender in the arts music, film, literature, theater, dance, visual arts, and circus offering an original view on the gendered character of amateur and professional artistic practices in contemporary societies. It defines the bases of a sociological perspective on gender in artistic practices. The chapter discusses the ways in which artistic practices are categorized as "feminine" or "masculine" and social logic behind the fact that such categorizations persist despite universalist discourses of sort commonly encountered in art worlds. It examines the hierarchical ordering of artistic practices and how it is likely to reflect negative perceptions of "feminine" artistic productions. The gendered aspect of artistic practices as well as of production of artistic work was brought to light quite early in sociology of arts and culture, in major statistical surveys on audience participation by gender and also empirical studies in various areas of amateur and professional artistic and cultural production.
