Gender Roles, Subject and Power

Women and Their Stuggles

  Women and inequality is something that has been around for century since the beginning of the world. For instance with Adam and Eve, people believe eve was made to keep Adam company and devote herself to him. During this Middle age times, many women lived a very harsh life because of the Christian belief. They believed that "The head of every man is Christ and the head of the woman is the man... for the man was not made from woman but women from man."( Guerrilla Girl quotes the bible 19) Even though this is the view that man wanted to go by, women were not standing for it. They felt like prisoners and decided to express themselves by becoming writers, artist, merchants, and nuns. They were not waiting " for their knight in shining armor" (Guerrilla Girls 19). Many families would send their young daughters to nunneries to free her from demanding roles of being wives or having children. If the women was not a nun they had to be married off by a very young age, as young as 15.  They lost their freedom and voice, not like they really had one, as a kid and were basically becoming servants to man. The men were able to beat her or even cheat on her. But this wasn't the same for the women. Women had so many restriction, for instance they were not allowed to marry if their parents didn't allow them to, they couldn't get a divorce, they couldn't own property, and so many more. The image below shows what women were expected to do. These women would paint themselves to portray themselves and their roles in society.

peasant woman milking a cow England Illustration 13th-century

  During the Renaissance and into 19 Century things started to change. The idea that women were suppose to be seen not heard was slowly changing at least for the upper class women. The women in lower class were still expected to devote themselves to their to their husband. "One of the dew ways a woman could work as an artist was to be born into a family of artist that needed assistance in the family workshop."(Guerrilla Girls 29). During this time renaissance man believed that if women learned to read and write it would be dangerous, that "women were destructive to the creative process."(Girls 31) For instance in the drawing below is Judith is cutting Holofernes' head but many artist didn't want to believe that she, a woman, was capable to cut his head and would often draw her looking away. 

Artemisia Gentileschi, “Judith Slaying Holofernes,” 1620 (Florence, Uffizi)

  During this time, the male artist made it incredibly hard for women artist. However this wasn't holding back women. In the early 19 centuries, even in the 17 and 18 centuries, Women's painting were getting more recognized. For instance Sofonisba Anguisola self portrait was a painting where she draws herself "as serious conservatively dressed young woman at the keyboard of a spinet...She presents herself as a modest young woman refinement and culture places the work in a tradition of self portraits."(Chadwick 79-82) Which this painting she draws herself with black clothes and playing  the piano. Which indicated not viewed as an object and also knowledge. Women from this time were drawing themselves as powerful and not naked like man liked to paint them. Just like Judith who paints herself with the head of Holofernes.

   In the 19 century, the abolish of slavery was seen as a symbolism for women. They believed that because black people struggle for equality and now they were free, it could mean that things are looking up to them. These woman had hope freedom. Just like the drawing below we see the woman is looking out the window as a sign of hope. However this wasn't what was actually happening. Man were viewing woman as object like never before.( Girls 47) This made it so much harder for woman painters because now they were saying that woman were suppose to be ballerinas or prostitutes and not artist. But even harder for lower class women. They didn't have any opportunity advance or leave their social class through painting. Basically they were suck there forever. However the young lady in the painting is in desperate need of prayers and she has hope that maybe in the future she would find her way out of the lower class. Even though this woman have struggled in a very strong way, there has been many successful women artists.

Anna Blunden, The Seamstress, 1854

Works Cited:

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, art and society. Thames and Hudson, 2015.

The Guerrilla Girls bedside companion to the history of Western art. Penguin Books, 2006.