The art world is a victim of institutional sexism, particularly in the fields of literature and fine arts. People just tend to put a higher value on work produced by men than work produced by women. Sam Leith, a writer for The Telegraph, found himself guilty of this when writing a response to Literature Nobel Prize jury member Horace Engdahl.² In his article, Leith defended American and British Literature, but cited 39 male authors as being influential, as opposed to a mere 6 female authors.³ “Did it make me more of a sexist pig, I wondered,” said Leith, in an apology, “that I didn't notice for one instant while writing that more or less all the names I instinctively reached for were men?”²

Literature favors men over women. For example, since its conception in 1901, only 12 of 107 prizes have been awarded to women.⁴ Of the 18 members of the Swedish Academy, the committee that selects Literature Nobel laureates, only 6 are women.⁵ Because the majority of voters are educated men, they are likely to select works that reflect their values, that is, works by educated men. The Nobel website itself has a page dedicated to honoring female Nobel laureates. Drawing special attention to female award winners itself condescends the accomplishments of these Nobel winners, by suggesting that their award is more significant because of their sex. Such an action acknowledges institutional sexism, but in a manner that encourages rather than discourages it.

The same ideas are true in the world of fine art. There is a distinct pay gap in between what male artists are paid and what female artists are paid. People are more able to recall names of male artists, because that is what they are exposed to and taught. British artist Tracey Emin produced a documentary about institutional sexism in the art world. The reason for such a pay gap, she says, is because women are less inclined to ask for more pay, because women are taught through institutional sexism to be more passive and less aggressive than men. Also, because more powerful members of the art community are men who are wealthy, they want to “pay top dollar for "macho" art that reflects their vision of themselves,” and in the process, art produced by women becomes overlooked.⁶