Gender Roles, Subject and Power

Christine de Pizan From The City of Ladies Christine de Pizan in her study 1405 

During the Middle Ages, gender roles between both men and women were very distinct. Everyone had an idea of what was expected of them and lived up to those ideals and expectations to the best of their ability. This idea of the public and private sphere existed during ancient times, where the public sphere belonged solely to men and the proper, suitable place for women was in the private sphere. The public sphere placed men as the head of household, labeling them as the “alpha male”. Men, during this time and many decades after, were seen as the sole provider for their families, making executive decisions, not only for themselves, but for their wife and kids, if they had one. They were the financial powerhouse, the dominant figure that women were expected to look up to. In contrast, women in the private sphere lived a completely different lifestyle and by a different set of rules that placed them several levels below men. During this time period, “women were restricted to the home and economically dependent on fathers, husbands, brothers, or sovereigns” (Chadwick 44). The way women lived was based solely on the men that was present in her life and with that, she barely had little say and control over the life choices that were made within it. As the Guerilla Girls would put it, women were essentially the “virtual prisoners” of the men that were present in their lives (19). Social division was regulated heavily by religion, where Christianity emphasized women being submissive to the men in their life, worshiping them at their footsteps and maintaining a image of purity.

Even though women were held to ideals that reflect patriarchal efforts, some women risked stepping outside of that sphere and into one where they would have a significant place in society. Chadwick notes that, “symbiotic modes of production and reproduction… encouraged women to take significant part in the management of family property and in general economic life”. He continues, “there is evidence that they participated in all forms of cultural production from masonry and building to manuscript illuminating and embroidery” (44). Again, the women that Chadwick speaks briefly about seemed to be the women who held a spot in the upper class. Women in the upper class had more leverage than those who were in lower ranks because they had the capacity, opportunity, and, most importantly, the wealth to accompany their presence in anything that was typically managed by men. Some women of lower ranks were brave enough to step outside the shadow of their brothers, fathers, and husbands and into the role as working women, becoming writers, merchants, nuns, and even artist, but again, at their own risk. Art during the Middle Ages was seen mainly within the church and used primarily within those types of settings, representing stories told within the Bible and religious messages. Relating back to the previous point about women making appearances in the public sphere and becoming artist, many of the pieces that were seen in the church came from women, but they went unrecognized, which is a theme that continuously happens to women as time progresses.

Moving into the Renaissance era, though the number of female artist began to increase, they were still subjected to exclusion within the artist community, simply because they were a woman. Art was essentially closed off to women and they were forced to branch into other realms of creativity.The gender roles continued to persist, women living as second class citizens to men, but progressively, women began to slowly move their way out of those expectations. But again it wasn’t until the sixteenth century where “a few women manage to turn the new Renaissance emphasis on virtue and gentility into positive attributes for the women artist” (Chadwick 76). Despite their tumultuous history with their art not being taken seriously or taking part of a skill that deviated away from the skills they truly wanted to illuminate, some women had the opportunity to work as an artist, while others couldn’t. Similar to the Middle Ages, there were exceptions to the rule of who could be an artist and who couldn’t, unfortunately for women, to be considered an artist during this time period, they either had to be born into an artistic family or simply be apart of the upper class.

Sofonisba Anguissola Self-Portrait 1561

The exceptions within the art world doesn’t take away from the impact women had on art during this era, regardless of the class or family they were born into. For instance, Sofonisba Anguissola, a noble, Italian Renaissance painter, “established new conventions for self-portraiture by women and for Italian genre painting” (77). She’s known for self-portraiture, for example her piece entitled Self-Portrait in 1561. With self-portraiture being her style of painting, Anguissola was “the first historical example of the women artist articulating the complex relationship between female subjectivity and agency” (78). Anguissola is one of many who paved the way for women taking part in art forms like painting and creating the image of the female artist, thus conveying the message that women as painters or as artist in general is considered a socially acceptable profession. Men aren’t the only good artist out there, but women had potential to be successful in that field as well. With the many praises Anguissola received for both her ambitious behavior and work, it was also followed by critiques, majority of which came from men.

Rosa Bonheur The Horse Fair 1887

During the Nineteenth-century, women began to advocate more for their place in society and equality along with their male counterparts through reform movements. Women, compared to the previous eras discussed, had more freedom to step outside their restrictive household, which was ultimately their comfort zone, into new opportunities that allowed them explore their interest and gain status. Another important figure during this time was Rosa Bonheur, a french artist and active member of the women movement, also made important strides within the female artist community. Majority of her paintings featured animals like horses, cows, and bulls. Bonheur also typically did things that was outside of the norm for women, besides painting more masculine centered subject like the horses and other animals, she crossed dressed, in which she believed it further helped her to create more paintings.

Works Cited:

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson, 1990. Print.

The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. New York:

Penguin, 1998. Print.