In the Middle Ages there were unfortunately very few examples of artists that were women and this was because of the rigid and asphyxiating social/gender roles of this time. Women were prisoners of their home and the only tasks expected of them were to take care of the house, the children and obey the men in their life. For instance, it is said during this time that a “woman must be a learner, listening quietly and with due submission” (Chadwick, 45). The only tangible escape a few women had to this domestic life, was to join a convent, where they would have the opportunity to learn, but unfortunately this was usually determined by social class. Therefore, if women weren’t of noble birth, then their possibilities were once again diminished. There was a change in the life of women around 1100 because they were allowed to participates in the guilds, where they were “often concentrated in women’s industries, such as work in silk, embroidery…”(Chadwick, 62). Although, still very restricted, this social shift allowed women to have an occupation that was not limited to the perimeter of their homes. A unique example of a woman that challenged the expected roles of women during this time was Christine de Pizan who “was the first woman to have made her living as a writer in the Middle ages…” (Guerrilla Girls 23). However, her family and her circumstances facilitated her desire to become a writer, a luxury that the majority of women did not have. Christine was educated by her father and married a intelligent man who also thought that she should further her education and possibilities, while the the rest of the women were often illiterate and had no privileges. Christine De Pizan used her position as a writer to write about the overwhelming difficulties women faced such as the lack of education for woman, the patriarchal society and a hope for equality. Her works of art were some of the earliest feminist writings, an example is shown in Image one.
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| Image One: One of the earliest feminist writings |
Women’s roles were subject to change throughout the Renaissance but it was a rather gradual transformation, much slower than the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly and not very positive at the beginning of this era. During the Renaissance, men gained even more power because they produced marvelous creations that granted them even more wealth. Men and their skills were once again at the forefront, while women were “relegated to areas that required fewer skills or skills of a kind that could be easily transferred to new households upon marriage” (Chadwick 68). Women had very few rights and their roles in the economy were practically nonexistent, their most significant contributions during this time were as a product of the embroidery and needlework industry (as shown in image 2) because men deemed these were appropriate tasks for women. While men, were being praised for their tremendous skill and vision for art, women were only allowed to branch into a limited and domestic form of art because that did not require you to have tremendous potential or intelligence. Painting was a man’s talent and this made it very difficult for women artists to pursue their passions. In fact, the only real chance a woman had to work as an artist and be exposed to the necessary materials was if they were “born into a family of artists that needed assistance in the family workshop” (Guerrilla Girls 29). However, the 16th century did bring some changes into the roles of women, even though they were limited to a specific type of women. For instance, a woman would only have the possibility to make art as a career if they were born in artistic families as mentioned before, were part of the upper class and had family members that believed that education was to be granted to everyone, rather than only limited to male individuals. Nevertheless, these new standards did open up possibilities for women. In fact, a very significant and successful example of these new opportunities was Sofonisba Anguissola, who thanks to her nobleman father was educated in “humanist ideals of the Renaissance” (Chadwick 78). She allowed women to think about painting as a profession for them but her subjects were limited and she often painted herself or other women. An example of a limitation painters like Anguissola faced, was that they could not be competition to their male contemporaries, so they did not receive commissions.
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| Image Two : The Domestic form of Art; given to women because it did not require skill. |
The 19th Century was a time of great change and it is thought of the greatest period of female social progress in history because women were able to think of art as an attainable profession (Chadwick, 177). With the invention of the camera, painting was threatened to become a less important form of art and women would have the ability to participate in photography and offer great contributions to this form of art. There were also modern feminist campaigns, clubs and reformers that “influenced lives of middle and upper class women aspiring to professional careers in the arts” (Chadwick 175). All these changes were helping promote an art women for females in western Europe and America, however, there were still many obstacles faced by women. Women still struggled obtaining the same level of education as the male student artists and they were not able to experience the same public events. For instance, as stated in the article, “Gender in Nineteenth-Century Art”, “In contrast to their male counterparts, bourgeois women could either stay home or venture out in select public spaces only if accompanied by a proper chaperone. Because of these restrictions, female artists had fewer experiences to draw from than their male colleagues.” Due to the societal restrictions that still existed in during this time period, women were not knowledgeable of entertainment places, the cafe culture, etc because they were not given liberty to explore the world around them. Therefore, they often painted painted other women, animals or things they were accustomed to seeing. However, there were artists like Rosa Bonheur who encouraged women to be bold and rebellious and establish themselves by their paintings. Another example of a women artist overcoming these societal conventions was Mary Cassatt who decided that she would depict “women actively at work… not as passive models or objects of the male gaze” as shown in Image 3 (Guerrilla Girls 56). As stated in the article, “How to Achieve Gender Equality in the Art World?”, Women often painted much of the same styles and they were not groundbreaking or worth much, but they were extremely important in diminishing and crushing the gender bias. Women were not given the training nor the means to produce a variety of art, even if they were just as talented or even more than their male contemporaries.
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| Image three: Women at work, instead of passive models |
Works Cited
The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. Penguin Books, 2006.
Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. Langara College, 2016.
“How to Achieve Gender Equality in the Art World?” How to Achieve Gender Equality in the Art World? - All China Women's Federation, www.womenofchina.cn/womenofchina/html1/opinion/1810/2077-1.htm.
“Gender in Nineteenth-Century Art.” Art History Teaching Resources, 23 Dec. 2016, arthistoryteachingresources.org/lessons/gender-in-nineteenth-century-art/.
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