How to Become a Guerrilla Girl

Probably not. The Guerrilla Girls rarely take on new members. Your best chance at being invited into their secret ranks is to be a New York artist who works closely with a Guerrilla Girl. If and when she chooses to reveal her secret identity, you may have a small in. If you're a man, you're completely out of luck. As of this writing, the Guerrilla Girls do not accept any men.

What can I do instead?

You are always welcome to donate money via the website. But if you want a real piece of Guerrilla Girl action, you can download and print stickers and signs from their website and put them up around town. You can purchase their merchandise for loved ones, disseminate their information, or even invite them to speak and perform at an event at your gallery, college, theater, or community center.

But I want to do something real!

In the fine spirit of the Guerrilla Girls, you can start your very own renegade artists' group to protest any social injustice you see fit. Give yourselves a name, don silly outfits, and pick a cause (although not necessarily in that order).

If you want to protest gender and racial inequality in the art world, the Guerrilla Girls certainly aren't going to stop you. But feel free to branch out. For example, you could call yourselves the Nifty Nikes and protest globalization. (Groan, right?) You could even call yourselves the Baboon Boys and protest the exclusion of men from the Guerrilla Girls.

Whatever you decide to do, here are some pointers:

1. Take a lesson from the Guerrilla Girls and incorporate humor into your pranks and public events. No one likes a raving fanatic, but everyone appreciates a good punch line.

2. Don't take yourselves too seriously. No matter what kind of mask you put on, you're still only human at the end of the day.

3. Back up your arguments with cold, hard facts. The Guerrilla Girls managed to capture the attention of the art world by exposing some really tough-to-swallow truths. This tactic will always work better than appeals to emotions.

4. If you want your message to be heard, you can't be shy. You'll have to stand in front of buildings with signs, engage people in conversations, and write all kinds of letters. The good news is that you can do this as your masked alter ego. Even though individual members of the Guerrilla Girls are anonymous, the collective is highly visible and willing to travel to get their message across.

5. Include everyone in your mission. While the Guerrilla Girls are a closed organization, they make everyone feel included in the joke. Put out newsletters, have flyers and stickers that people can distribute for you, and don't forget the all-important letter template. If you want people to write letters on your cause's behalf, have a form available for them.

Now get out there and conquer the world!