Desiree Roman
Professor Cacoilo
Art and Women
10/17/17
Gender Roles, Subject, and Power
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| Self-Portrait, 1556, Lancut Museum, Poland |
The
roles of women have changed throughout history. Women were always subjected to
inferiority when compared to men. They were depicted as weak, powerless, and
unstable, while men on the other hand were portrayed as valiant, superior, and
durable. Women in Europe during the Middle Ages possessed almost equal power as
men. To begin with, The Christian Church was the dominant ruler in medieval
life, the Church controlled culture, education, communication, religion, and
power. However, the Church allowed women to participate in every aspect of
public life. “…encouraged women to take significant part in the management of
family property and in economic life… They participated in all forms of
cultural production” (Chadwick, 44). Women were granted the right to possess
the same opportunities as men. They could work, manage property, become writers
and painters, and were allowed to run the kingdom during crisis. They weren’t
restricted to being property of their husbands or fathers. “Adelaide of
Burgundy strengthened ties between Germany and Italy; her appearance on coins
and her signature on diplomas testify to her political power and prestige”
(Chadwick, 52). This illustrates how a woman held power to an extent that she
managed to strengthen Europe. She gained access to political power and
reinforced the image of women. Along with women holding these prospects, they
were also allowed to join convents during the Middle Ages. “Joining a convent
freed women from the demanding roles of being wives and mothers” (The Guerrilla
Girls, 21). Within the convent women could,
“operate business, farmed, made tapestries, copied and illustrated manuscripts,
composed and performed music. And they educated one another” (The Guerrilla
Girls, 22). Women were given chances that previous women didn’t have. In the
convents they were free of the rule of men. They had the power to participate
in the same working conditions as men. They weren’t subjugated. Additionally,
trade routes expanded women roles in guild production where they gained access
to work in silk, embroidery, millinery, and garment crafts. Women were
important during the Middle Ages, they carried out a magnificent deal of power.
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| Elisabetta Sirani, Portia Wounding Her Thigh, 1664 |
To continue,
Roles for women changed throughout the Renaissance and into the 19th
century. During the Renaissance women were inferior to the society and rulings
around them. “Women were barred from painters’ guilds or academies. They
couldn’t receive commissions or legally own an atelier. Most were illiterate”
(The Guerrilla Girls, 29). Women were denied the rights that men were
privileged too. They couldn’t gain property, power, or wealth. They were a
subject to a man’s possession. The only way that females could work as an
artist would be that if they were born into a family of artists. “First a woman was a daughter and then a wife, mother, or
widow. In contrast, male roles were generally defined by social position or
occupation—merchant, knight, priest, peasant, barrel maker, and weaver”
(Encyclopedia). Women were always kept tight in the hands of men. They could
never branch out and live the life they wanted to live. Men believed that their
social class was everything, they believed that women having an education was a
threat, and only married a woman for her dowry. Women like Elisabetta Sirani
and Properzia de Rossi have gained significance during the Renaissance.
“Elisabetta… accused of signing work her father had done…she began painting in
public and eventually opened a school for women artists” (Chadwick, 30). Sirani
took the extra step and opened a school for women artists so that women could
gain independence. She did this because she was tired of being just an object
towards men and wanted women to gain importance through their art. She revolted
against the ideal norm of a man. “Properzia…woman to have sculpted in marble…
she her situation was unusual: she lived on her own with no man… accused of
being a prostitute. This ruined her” (Chadwick, 31). Rossi was the first woman
in the Renaissance to have sculpted in marble yet was diminished because she
didn’t have a man to support her. She was important and gained significance by
sculpting in marble, however she was discouraged because there was no male
providing his services for her. The Renaissance was a big era in which ripped women artists a part. During the 19th century women were still
forced to choose between marriage and a career. There was still social
inequality. In Louisa May Alcott’s short novella Diana and Persis, she depicts how Persis must choose between being
a wife or being an artist. “Devotion to her art and devotion to home and
family… cannot deny feelings and her desire for domestic life… but in the end
her choice of marriage limits her options as an artist” (Chadwick, 230). It is
evident here that even if women did want to branch out from a domesticated life
and pursue their career, they were still tied to the life of family and
couldn’t break away from it. In the end, they will always be tied to family and
the control of men. Photography gave rise in the 19th century since
women could not be excluded from it because of its technological advancement.
Photography made painting obsolete which allowed women to take advantage and
use it to shape their art. Women faced gender inequality but that didn’t stop
them from gaining the rights they deserved in the future. The women in the past
fought hard for the freedom and independence that the women in the future now
cherish.
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| Properzia de’Rossi - Joseph and Potiphar's Wife - 1520s - Marble - Museo de San Petronio, Bologna |
Works Cited
Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art and Society. Thames and Hudson, 2015.
The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. Penguin
http://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/women-renaissance-and-reformationhttp://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/w/women-in-the-renaissance/
https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/gender-roles-in-the-19th-century
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