A Homo-sexual ideology in the history of New South Wales art education

Abstract

This article examines the history of a discourse about art education in the state of New South Wales in Australia, during the early part of the twentieth century. The object of this discourse was the promotion of art as a school subject for boys. The article examines both published and archival evidence assembled from the writings of school inspectorial authorities, as well as educational psychologists, which attempt in various ways to associate art with representations of masculinity and femininity. The author draws on the work of the feminist philosopher Luce Irigaray, advancing an analysis that focuses on the character of these representations. It is argued that the meaning of art was produced according to a homo-sexual ideology, reproducing a desire for a form of art education that would preserve art as a masculine domain.