Gender Roles

During the Middle Ages, a time of European history enduring from around the fifth century to the fifteenth century, ladies held the places of spouse, mother, laborer, artisan , and nun, just as some imperative positions of authority, for example, abbess or ruler regnant. The very idea of "lady" changed in various ways during the Middle Ages and a few powers affected ladies' jobs during this period. Lower class women were relied upon to be housewives and deal with everything to do with the house. The desire for average workers ladies was somewhat extraordinary. These ladies were relied upon to work for their spouses and help them maintain their business. They would work close by with their spouses and afterward return home and deal with the house hold. High society ladies may have had hirelings and specialists working for them however the ladies were as yet expected to deal with the house hold. Women could not work without anyone else. Neither would they be able to live alone on the off chance that they were not hitched. Women were “the virtual prisoners of the men in their lives” (Guerrilla Girls, 19). 

In addition, Chadwick underlined that "women's social roles remained circumscribed by a Christian ethic that stressed obedience and chastity…maternal and domestic responsibility... feudal legal system...[and] control of property" (Chadwick, 44). They were denied the privilege for instruction, the right to speak freely, the privilege to cast a ballot and the privilege to acquire properties. As per the Guerrilla Girls, ladies were “required to be faithful to her husband and adultery could be punished by flogging or being buried alive” (Girls, 22). As a rule, ladies were completely closed out of the open circle of nineteenth century society. However, most men were drafted as fighters amid the war so ladies were given the privilege to take on their positions at home, for example, dealing with a property. As indicated by Chadwick, "the eleventh and twelfth centuries encouraged large numbers of women to take up religious lives" (Chadwick, 53). Ladies were looking to escape brutal treatment and their solitary path was to end up nuns.

Elisabetta Siriani, a Bolognese craftsman, was impacted enormously by her dad (Giovanni Andrea Siriani) so much that individuals regularly blamed her for marking work her dad had done. In light of her haters, she painted freely and in the long run opened a school for ladies craftsman. In Sirianas piece Portia whom is the focal point of consideration is emblematic to that of a female's manliness which wasn't acknowledged and conflicted with the generalizations of a lady. In this way the picture extends the detachment from the female world and conflicts with the buzzword that ladies were excessively frail.

Elisabetta Sirani, Portia Wounding Her Thigh 1664

As Chadwick emphasizes, “Stabbing herself deeply in the thigh, Portia has to prove herself virtuous and worthy of political trust by separating herself from the rest of her sex…The composition reinforces Portia’s removal from the world of women. She is physically separated from the women who spin and gossip in another room, betraying their sex by talk” (Chadwick, 101). Ladies were always delineated as feeble and anything other than powerless was viewed as anomalous, weird, and tricky since it was in their "inclination" to adore and delicate. Contrary to Chadwick's statement Artemisia Gentileschi creates a painting entitled "Judith with her maidservant" showing just how strong women are. 

Artemisia Gentileschi, "Judith with her Maidservant" 1618.

Judith and her maid servant have just beheaded the man who had planned to attack their home , ultimately saving hundreds of people from losing their lives. Though many doubted her ability to pull anything like this off , Artemisia paints proof. This painting is one of many examples, showing women as power and capable of anything. 

MARIE BASHKIRTSEFF, "IN THE STUDIO", 1881.

"Despite the challenges, aspiring female artists flocked to Paris in the second half of the 19th century to seek careers as painters. In the face of societal and institutional pressures, these women created non-traditional paintings that played to their unique strengths. "

Works Cited 

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. London: Thames & Hudson, 2007.

The Guerrilla Girls  bedside companion to the history of Western art. Penguin, 1998.

France-Amérique. “The Struggle of 19th Century Women Artists in Paris.” France-Amérique, 14 Dec. 2017, france-amerique.com/en/the-struggle-of-19th-century-women-artists-in-paris/.