Where are the men?

In a long article about how construction projects in Istanbul have been held up for years because of the spectacular archaeological finds that have turned up during the initial excavations (“Letter from Turkey: The Big Dig”, The New Yorker, August 31, 2015), Elif Batuman writes: “In Yenikapi, I visited the makeshift lab where all of these objects are processed by the Istanbul Archaeological Museum. In one trailer, a group of conservators, all women, were restoring small wooden objects.” This all-female conservation lab is far from unique. Where are the men who could be/used to be working in conservation?

3 thoughts on “Where are the men?”

  1. Sounds like the conservation landscape in the US as well, where one sees very few men in class photos for the grad programs, and working as conservators. This is based on my experiences in library conservation/preservation and attending conferences.
    So, where are the men? Is it a problem that some professions attract more of one gender than another?
    p.

  2. The only problem I see in the gender ratios in the field of conservation is if it is being kept that way by institutions. If simply less men are interested in the field, I can’t see that as a negative. It’d be ideal to be completely diverse through race, gender, sexual identity, personality type, demographic and economic standing. The most qualified candidate should be the best candidate, regardless.
    Many fields that used to be dominated by men are now flipped. The USA culture shift over the past 50 years can surely explain a lot of this.
    Diversity is ideal, but I feel strange about letting that ideology dictate decisions on who gets opportunities, etc.

  3. “Where are the men?” Seriously? That’s one of the LEAST important questions we should be asking of our field. Why don’t we try some others, hm?
    How about… “Where are the paid internships, that would let a wider range of students enter the field without going into crippling student debt?”
    “Where is the racial diversity?”
    “Where are the better salaries?”
    “Where are the permanent, full-time conservation jobs, especially for those who are just entering the job market after graduation?”

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