Women in 3-d

[P3D Dr. George A. Themelis <fj834@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Josh Rubin writes:  
 
>This may account for the entirely lamentable under-representation 
>of women in the field.
 
I wanted to talk about this since Dalia mentioned that women in this 
field are scarce and Nancy said that this brought a smile to her face.  

Allow me to dispute this statement.  Without any numbers on hand, it 
appears to me that women are represented in the field of stereo 
photography in the same ratios that they are represented in the field 
of photography in general.  There are not many women photographers in 
general and the same is true for women stereo photographers but some 
of the most active stereo photographers today are women.
 
If there is a related area where women are under-represented is 
collecting of 19th century and early 20th century stereo views and 
stereo cameras (note: this does not include View-Master where women 
are represented in good numbers).  For some reason, women do not 
appear to have an interest in collecting "old stuff".  Since NSA 
started as (and to a good degree still remains) an organization of 
collectors, women are under-represented in NSA.
 
However, looking at PSA, an organization of active photographers, we see 
that women have a very strong representation.  A few examples of well-
known stereo photographers who hold various PSA offices (number of PSA 
stars in parenthesis indicate a long and fruitful photographic carrier):
 
- Pauline Sweezy FPSA (5*), President of PSA.
- Frances Walling APSA (3*), editor of "Stereo" column in PSA Journal
- Marie-Fracoise Brasquies (4*), director of USA circuits.
 
In addition to these PSA officers, I know many women who enter PSA 
competitions with excellent results.  It you look at the results of
PSA competitions (stereo slides) you will see that women hold a good 
percentage of the acceptances (10% or better).  You will find names like:
 
Eleanor Bruce (3*) Barbara Covey (2*), Alma Fry (2*), Lila Lange (3*), 
Susan Pinsky APSA (5*), Mary Ann Rhoda (2*), Valeria Sardy (Master 
II), Mary Silva APSA (1*), Lucille Sire APSA (4*), Henrietta Tinay 
FPSA (5*), Charlene Rosenblum (5*), Phyllis Rander APSA (5*).
 
To conclude:
 
1. There are many active women stereo photographers who are interested 
only in taking pictures, not collecting.
 
2. Their ratio is rather typical of women in photography in general.
 
3. For some reason, women are not interested into collecting material 
before their time (like view-cards) but do collect more modern 
material (View-Master) perhaps due to childhood memories.
 
The above are personal observations, not based on any hard data.
 
George Themelis (0*)


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