Arts and Culture 
There have been long standing debates in the field of arts and culture about the representation, inclusion and identification of people who are seen as belonging to various equality groups. Women, disabled people, and people from minority ethnic groups in particular, have all raised issue with access to funding and representation across all facets of the field (visual arts, dance, theatre, poetry, music). The debates are often complicated with a diversity of viewpoints about appropriate strategies for addressing questions of equality.
Many commentators suggest that a consideration of social inclusion should have an impact on arts policies and practice; participation in arts activities may have a number of positive outcomes including: improved understanding of other cultures, increased self-confidence, increased educational attainment, social cohesion and reduced offending behaviour.
Equality questions for Arts and Culture are crucial if we are to understand questions around cultural identity and representation for specific fields and the performers, writers, artists, etc, who work within and across those areas. There are also questions of inclusion and access across equality groups in terms of audiences, participation, consumption and so on.
Equality Groups
