Gender Roles, Subject and Power

Rahmeh Abdulaal
Women and Art Studies
Post 2
3/4/19

Gender Roles, Subject and Power

           Glancing back at the Middle age, we realize that women were not humans. They were not treated like how decent humans should be treated. They were used, tortured, interrogated, manipulated, sexually assaulted, and etc. They had one job, which was to please the husband and nurture the children."Women were usually engaged to be married at age 12 and were married by 15" (GG,22). This specific quote summarises the miserable life women had to live. Their life was already figured out for them since birth. living in a time period like the Middle Ages in Europe was horrendous for women, it was a time where they were prisoners in their own households and thoughts. Obedience was one of the main themes for women that existed at that time period, if a woman was not obedient to her husband and family, she will face severing punishment, sometimes even death. Therefore, women were trapped in their own thoughts and emotions and could not escape their reality, it was a time of depression for the women in Europe. However, nuns were the first women in the Middle Ages to gain some sort of power in the society, they had no say in political or cultural aspects of living and had no authority over anyone or anything, but they did have control over the religious aspect of life. With that being said, the women believed that "The presence of well-endowed convent during the eleventh and twelfth century encouraged large numbers of women to take up religious lives: cults of female saints"(Chadwick, 53). This opportunity was the beginning of a new era where women went out to find themselves.  Nuns opened the church for women to come to a gather and explore the new world that they have been hidden from since birth. Therefore, paintings were one of the few ways women escaped their reality. One very famous painter at that time was Hildegard Of Bingen who painted the famous "Scivias". Women respected her and admired her at that time for her power and rebellious acts. She was perceived as a very noble artist because her paintings were thought to have spiritual meaning behind them. However, come to no surprise, the men hated her art and thought she was a bad influence on their children and on their wives, and always tried to keep her away from their families, and close relatives. 

 Hildegard of Bingen – Scivias 1142-52

               Unusual lights and stars made the nuns believe that her paintings had a spiritual meaning to them. 

               Moving into the Renaissance era, we see the women slowly establishing thier freedom. It was an era that was much appreciated by history because it brought the art industry one of the best women artists in the history of art "painting became one of a growing list of activities in which women had intuitive, but not learned, knowledge and to whose laws they remained outsiders"(Chadwick, 74).  Therefore, this era was the climax for women's lives, where they started to rebel and ask for their freedom. However, it was also a time where men "began to obsess over and objectify the naked female body as never before"(GG,47). However, this type of mentality for men never died, and it never went away even until this day, so it was not something that stopped women from rebelling, in fact, it made them want to rebel and break out of that terrible image and reputation even more. Adding on to that, men did not like the fact that women were very slowly starting to become more than just their servants. For that reason, women had to choose between her family and marriage life, or her career, passion, and freedom. Therefore, this ideology puts a women's reputation at risk, if she were to choose freedom, it was not as easy. One of the biggest examples and inspirations that lost her reputation and life for her passion and freedom was Properzia De Rossi. Rossi was the only women sculptor at that time, she lived alone without a man which was extremely rare, she was most likely the only one to live alone without a man in her home town. However, day by day it got worse for her, with the name calling and shaming her for doing what she loves and for being independent. Her situation took a big turn when one person started a rumor saying that she was a prostitute, which ruined her life and reputation on a whole new level. She had people almost on the edge of killing her. Even though this era opened the door for freedom for some women, it came with consequences that were not bearable at some point.   

Properzia de’ Rossi,
"Joseph and Potiphar's Wife at the Basilica di San Petronio Museum, Bologna, 1525-26. Courtesy of Irene Graziani at the University of Bologna."

            Finally, after going through the struggle of trying to break out during the Middle Ages, and then trying to get noticed during the Renaissance period, the 19th century was a pure fight for equality and freedom. Women at that time felt like they have had enough of being an outsider and never fitting in, "let women establish their claims by great and good works and not by conventions"(GG,49). Women used painting and art as a form of expressing themselves and making their name known to the rest of the world, it created a social system. Throughout this century, women change their view and perspective on life, they begin to grow in all aspects and field of the world. They used art as a form of communication not only to the men and to show them that they are capable of everything, but also for other women to get inspired and to break through the walls that their society and men built for them to be trapped. Decades before, women did not have the courage to step outside of their household, however, the 19th century set the beginning of a new era for women to show the world of what they can do, and how they can change this world by introducing it to the idea of freedom and gender equality. The 19th century was the opening of a door for women, and they will try to keep it open and will not allow anyone or anything to close it.  

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

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-woman-renaissances-famous-record-art-history