Post Two: Gender Roles, Subject, and Power

Rowan Hessen
February 27, 2020
Professor Cacoilo
Art and Women

Gender Roles, Subject, and Power

     As a society, we have come a long way towards equality, especially the equality between genders. For sure still have a lot of problems, but it is still important to note all of the achievements we have made. Yes, we still have sexist and misogynist leaders but in the 1400s it would be hard to imagine life as it is right now. Women are allowed to vote, own property, go to school, and go to court on their own terms. Women are allowed to make art, show their art, and depict women how they should be depicted. Rather than being objectified women can own their bodies through the art world. We will go through the struggles women have dealt with in past periods, from the Middle Ages to Rennaissance, and into the 19th century. In Whiney Chadwick’s “Women, Art, and Society” and The Guerilla Girls’ “Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art”, they both cover these time periods and how women struggle and women artists put that towards their artwork. Women artists and women art was changing and developing through these times, and it was for the best.
     In Europe, the expected roles for women in the Middle Ages are very cruel, and as a woman, I would not know how to even deal with the restrictions they have. They are treated as if they are not human but rather assets, objects, and caretakers. The Guerilla Girls lists things that a “women who weren’t nuns couldn’t do in the Middle Ages” (The Guerilla Girls 22). All of them are associated with men. Some examples are: women had to be married by the age of 15, women could be beaten if they do not obey their husbands, and my “favorite” is “education was thought to interfere with a woman’s ability to be a good wife and mother” (The Guerilla Girls 22). The Guerilla Girls makes it clear to readers that women live through men, their life depends on who she is related to and who she will be married to. Faithfulness and commitment are expected from women. Chadwick also extends this realty for women stating “Women were restricted to the home and economically dependent on fathers, husbands, and brothers, or sovereigns” (Chadwick 44). It is almost impossible for women at this time period to be financially stable on her own, mainly because she is not allowed to. The only way women can have any money to their name is by who their family is. Women were working only permission by men. Chadwick also goes on to say “women’s social roles remained circumscribed by a Christion ethic that stressed obedience and chastity” (44). A woman’s value depends on her virginity and the fact she obeys orders from men. Her value is stressed by the fetishization of being “pure” and subordinate. A woman’s role in Europe in the Middle Ages limits her to any aspirations, goals, and life outside the man. The roles of women through class is also very prevalent, which you can read more on here.

Christine De Pizan,  Christine De Pizan in her Study, from The City of Ladies, 1405

     During the Middle Ages women, artists reflected these roles implemented on them into their work. One of these women is Christine de Pizan who is one of the most notable people of the time. She made literature and drew art that showed women as individuals and powerful people. In her work “Christine de Pizan in Her Study” (the work above) confronts the roles set on women. The painting is a portrait of Pizan herself, writing. Women were typically not literate at the time and were also looked down upon for gaining an education as stated above. Pizan’s piece does not only represent the freedom and the right women should have but also is a slap on the face to everyone who has the misogynistic belief that women are less because of holding an education.
     Although it was many years later the roles of women barely changed throughout the Renaissance into the 19th century. Sure, they may have had more opportunities and chances but the expectations of women were still there. During the Renaissance, women were still expected to be obedient and submissive. Women were only seen as tools to higher a man’s status, “through marriage and family alliance” (Chadwick 76). Women are only used to heighten a man’s status in the world and better them. Women were also not getting paid for their artwork and did not know how to read or write. Some lucky women were allowed to work as an artist if they were born into a family of artists (The Guerilla Girls 25). Women were not allowed to aspire, to be individuals. In the 17th and 18th centuries, girls as young as 12 were sent away to work in Textile and garment trades (The Guerilla Girls 41). Then in the 19th-century women were still deemed as items and not individuals. The Guerilla Girls state how life was like for a women in the 19th century: they could not have a job or be legal guardians of their children unless you had your husband’s permission and that you can become a lawyer or doctor now but it was intensely difficult to survive school (The Guerilla Girls 52). However, unlike the Middle Ages women had more opportunities to be able to become artists. They can know become artists on their own. For example, academies for women artists. Many opened around the world including the Women's Art School of Cooper Union and Pittsburgh School of Design in America and the Female School of Art and Design in Britain (Chadwick 178). There was even a group of artists named the "Lanham Place Circle" who created the English Women's Journal to protest and "[campaign] for women's education, employment, property rights, and suffrage (Chadwick 179-180). Women were getting opportunities and chances to work on their art at schools and working in a man's atelier. They were also remarkably protesting against the oppression they face. Doors were now open for them, but they included nails, chains, and fences that they have to break down. To learn about women artists during the 19th century, who they are, what they did, and more you can see here.

Edith Hayllar, Feeding the Swans, 1889

    The role that women should be mothers, caretakers, and simply not workers, not artists, is heavily depicted in women artists' works. Most of the time they seem to be protests on the ill-treatment they face by society. They are only fit for marriage and motherhood in it. This became a subject for many of their works. For example, Edith Hayllar's "Feeding the Swans" shows the steps of a women's life that is already set for her. The young child is already dolled up, knowing her appearance is important even if she wants to feed swans. The other girl holding her hand is already learning how to take care of children. The girl in pink seems to be talking to a "contender" to marry her. While the two women in the back seem to be drinking tea, a mother and grandmother to the children. Even the woman in black, the widow, who seems to be the grandmother, is still be connected with a man, even after he died. The painting represents how a woman's life is essentially planned for her already. The artist confronts the fact that this is the expectation for a woman to represent themselves beautifully, serve, and be faithful.

Emily Mary Osborn, Nameless and Friendless, 1857

      Some artists during the Rennaisance like Giovannie Andrea Sirani painted in public to prove that she is indeed the artist named in pieces. While some artists like Emily Mary Osborn create artwork to reflect their struggles. In "Nameless and Friendless" (above) which can heavily depict the ill-treatment of not only women artists but any women who want to be in the working field in the 19th century. In this piece, a woman with her son, specifically a widow (noted by her black dress), is trying to sell her own artwork. But looking at the man's reaction he knows that he would never by this piece because she is a woman. The other men on the left stare out her, knowing that she is out of place and should not be there.  In conclusion, women throughout the Middle Ages to the 19th century were still oppressed because of their gender. Although some doors have opened for them to do more, it is very little.

Works Cited

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. fifth ed., Thames & Hudson World of Art, 2012

The Guerilla Girls. The Guerrilla Girls Bedside Companion To The History of Western Art. Penguin Book, 1998