What were the expected roles of women in Europe in the middle Ages? How did roles for women change throughout the Renaissance and into the 19th century? Please explain how these roles influenced the lives of women artists and subjects of their work. Please use the 19th century to illustrate the challenges women artists faced. How did they overcome these or reference them in their work?
Gender roles have always been present in society. How women are viewed is an ever-changing topic in human history. The roles and expectations of women are ever changing and also ever apparent. Today’s women are able to express themselves much more freely and openly. Yet this wasn’t always the case.
The middle ages view on women is a prime example of the changes through history. The roles of women socially were governed heavy by the Christian and extremely religious mindsets, yet their physical ability and work were often times similar to that of men. This is explained by Chadwick, “While women's social roles remained circumscribed by a Christian ethic that stressed obedience and chastity, by the demands of maternal and domestic responsibility, and by the feudal legal system organized around the control of property, there is evidence that their lives, as those of men, were also shaped by economic and social forces outside ecclesiastic control, at least during the period of the early Middle Ages. Women's lives do not appear to have been privatized and their social functions subordinated to, or defined by, their sexual capacities.”(Chadwick,44). Women were constrained socially to be obedient and restrained, women can be seen working in most forms of manual labor. Furthermore, the education of women depended heavily on nobility. A woman who was born of rich heritage had access to similar resources as men. With all this said, women were expected to practice extreme self-control, to the point of limiting one’s self. Women were not seen as teachers in medieval time. St. Paul’s caution stated "’a woman must be a learner, listening quietly and with due submission. I do not permit a woman to be a teacher, nor must a woman domineer over a man; she should be quiet.’"(Chadwick,45). The roles of women were limited in medieval society and needed to change.
The above image depicts medieval women working manually in the field. Showing women weren’t limited to non-physical labor. Attached link shows Medieval Women http://www.medievalchronicles.com/medieval-people/medieval-women/
As the renaissance began, women saw a change in social roles. With the renaissance came more women artists becoming well known, a prime example being Sofonisba Anguissola. Yet as women were not viewed as equal, neither was her work. The following text states the obstacles women had to face after producing work, “Sofonisba Anguissola's example opened up the possibility of painting to women as a socially acceptable profession, while her work established new conventions for self-portraiture by women and for Italian genre painting. Like many subsequent women artists, she has been subjected to wildly fluctuating critical evaluations” (Chadwick, 77). The criticism often stemmed from her lack of proper education, which wasn’t readily available to her at the time. It is apparent that the renaissance brought a change in the expectation of women in society, yet they still experienced the male patriarchy. Bell Hooks’ definition of patriarchy is “a political system that insists that males are inherently dominating, superior to everything and everyone deemed weak, especially females, and endowed with the right to dominate and rule over the weak and to maintain that dominance through various forms of psychological terrorism and violence.”(Hooks, 18). And although society’s view of women changed through the renaissance and into the 19th century, this patriarchy was always in place.
This renaissance drawing depicts the “Male Gaze” that John Berger’s talks about. The profile painting shows women as nothing more than objects blankly staring ahead.
The effects of gender roles played a huge part in the success of women artists. For example, women never had the same opportunities to create oil works on canvas; this type of work has always rained as supreme in the art world. This is described by the Guerrilla Girls “a material hierarchy, with oil paint on canvas at the top. Other media-like sculpture, drawing, photography, installation, and performance are not quite as prestigious. Ironically this has made it easier for women to make it in these fields.”(Guerrilla, 90). This is clear that through history women has to use the resources they were given or allowed to use. Not being able to express yourself in your artwork because of your gender is a huge challenge that aspiring women artists had to face. Yet, even with these obstacles women continually found ways of working past the gender roles and finding niches within the art. A prime example of this being botanical illustration. “However, the most remarkable of these illustrations were by Maria Sybilla Merian who transformed the field of scientific illustration.”(Chadwick, 133). A talented artist like Maria was able to overcome the prejudices towards her and become one the best botanical artists.
This botanical piece by Maria Merian shows just how great of an artist she is. The following link shows more of her work. https://www.botanicalartandartists.com/about-maria-sibylla-merian.html
Through history, women artists have had to face a number of obstacles. Yet, many famous women artists were able to overcome the hardships with talent and persistence. The constant changing of gender roles played a huge part in women artwork.
Works Cited
Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. Langara College, 2016.
Guerilla Girls. The Guerilla Girls' beside Companion to the History of Western Art.
Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. D.W. Thorpe, 1994.
Hooks, Bell. The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love. Washington Square Press, 2005.
“Maria Sibylla Merian.” Botanical Art & Artists, www.botanicalartandartists.com/about-maria-sibylla-merian.html.
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