Fouzia Hussain
Gender Roles, Subject, and Power
Art and Women
3 March 2019
Change in Roles of Women
Women during the Middle Ages was a rough time because they did not receive the same rights as a female than men do. Women were treated as objects and were taught to be “submissive” to their husband. Women were forced to grow in a patriarchal culture where they had to obey all the men in their lives. For instance, women were told that their only job was to cook, clean, and take care of the kids. Chadwick stated, "Rousseau not only believed women to be naturally inferior and submissive, but he also put great emphasis on the notion that the sexes should be separated. Believing that women lacked the intellectual capacities of men, he argued that they had no ability to contribute to art and the work of civilization apart from their domestic roles” (39). Men like Rousseau during the Middle Ages explains the patriarchy that was occurring towards females. He believed that women can not do the same job as a man, he believed that women should focus to only be the caretaker. Separating the “roles” of men and women at this time was crucial, women did not have the same rights as men. They were rejected from expressing their talent through art and paintings. However, the only way women were ever allowed to take control was if their husbands have gone to war. That is the closest they ever got to managing. Also, it came to the point that women decided to become nuns or make their children turn into nuns. This way, they would “escape” the mistreatment, being “submissive”, and rape. This would help women to stay away from men and not to follow their orders. A part of a role to become a nun is not getting married. This helped some women escape from men because they did not have to deal with their “role” (which is to be a housewife) of marriage. Furthermore, women did not have the right to get an education. They were told that this would make them forget their duty as a mother. Guerilla Girls stated, “Education was thought to interfere with a woman’s ability to be a good wife and mother. Almost no women were taught to read and write” (22). This was unfortunate for women during the Middle Ages because they were forbidden to get knowledge and become smart. Women were able to express their art and work in different ways such as sewing, needlework. Women were allowed to work in convents that allowed them to express themselves. Chadwick stated, “The division of labor according to sex is a modern invention, often manifested in attempts to identify female sexuality with activities like needlework” (63). As mentioned before, most women were able to do was handcrafted work that men were not able to do like needlework. Women were needed for this. Both these images are portraying the same meaning but from a female artist and a male artist.
For instance, the first picture was painted by a male artist, Tintoretto. In this painting, it is showing the needlework women are doing similar to the second painting made by Judith Leyster, a female artist. However, the difference between these two paintings is that the male painting shows color, wealth, and comfort while doing her work. However from a female’s perspective, that women are in a dull, dark mood setting, uncomfortable doing her work and not as wealthy as the first painting.
The way men painted was different from how females did. Men portray a different expression in their paintings while females express the real expression, how women feel and what they go through. Men tend to express a different message in their work that's showing “lies” when women express the real message. Most women were refused to share their art because men did not want them to be as superior as well as telling the truth. In other words, when women paint, they describe what their sorrows and what they have to deal with and at this time women were refused to show their work which was upsetting.
Until then, things were able to change just a little later on. During the Renaissance, women were able to receive a little more rights but not as much. In the Guerrilla Girls, it started, “One of the few ways a woman could work as an artist was to be born into a family of artists that needed assistance in the family workshop” (29). Although women were still strictly forbidden from working, towards the renaissance they were able to move just a little up. N example of this is the Gentileschi family. Orazio Gentileschi and Artemisia Gentileschi came from the same family.
First Painting is painted by Orazio Gentileschi describing the painting more in a calmer tone as if their not as scared. The colors show more light and less darkness.
A second painting by Artemesia Gentileschi is vaguer and painted by the daughter. This one shows a difference in tone and expression. In this painting, it describes the fear the women are in and trying to hide the “beheaded”.
Here’s a link down below of a small summary of the meaning behind these paintings and the difference:
http://www.angelfire.com/co4/kerianne/web4.htm
During the Renaissance, many women have still struggled to survive and live for their passion for art. In the Guerilla Girls, it stated, “Onorato Rodiani abandoned a promising career as a painter when she killed a colleague who tried to rape her. Rather than stand trial for murder, she fled and spent 20 years in drag as a professional soldier. Her real sex was discovered at her death” (30). It’s so unfortunate of what level women had to go to, in order to save themselves. In this case, this woman changed her whole identity. During the Renaissance, women got the chance to go to school as well and move forward with their passion for art. Chadwick stated, “Bologna was unique among Italian cities for having both a university which had educated women since the Middle Ages and a female saint who painted” (87). In the Renaissance, education even expanded for women. The transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance was a slight change but women were still treated as if they could not accomplish the same as men.
A link below is the university that women were able to attend:
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