Project Summary -- The Female Body: Past and Present

The Female Body: Past and Present

Catherine Ferreira

Mariam Elbedeiwy

Aura Coronel

Tatiana Ramos

 

We began by discussing Venus as a symbol of sex and beauty. The two paintings on display were clearly objectifying the female subject. In the case of Titian’s “Venus of Urbino,” it seems as though Venus is being “served” on a platter to the male spectator. We noted that it is nearly impossible to find art from the past (Renaissance art in our case) that features women while not objectifying then. We raised this question as an afterthought: Is this what a beautiful woman would look like in present day?

Titian, Venus of Urbino (1538)

The following slides featured feminist art by Kirsten Justesen. The woman in “Circumstances” is still nude, and it made us wonder: Is she being objectified, as in the Venus images? No; this woman’s posture is powerful. Her eyes are censored as if to strip her of identity; her identity is that of the average woman. We mentioned in an aside how she is full-figured like Venus, but ideas of the “perfect woman” have changed since the Renaissance. The artwork by Brenda Goodman shares a similar theme—the woman in the painting does not fit into our modern-day conceptions of beautiful and is ridiculed for it.

Kirsten Justesen, Circumstances (1973) 

The next slide is feminist art that tries to reach out to a more general audience. The artists, Nathaneal Lark and Ashley E. Roberts, are not only trying to show that all body types are beautiful, but that women can be beautiful WITHOUT being objectified. This art was made in response to the ideals of feminine beauty we have in present day AND our obsession with feminine beauty in general. We stressed, however, that this kind of art is not the norm, but that it was made in response to the constant objectification of women. “We” (feminists) haven’t yet been successful in removing the perception that women are objects of beauty and/or sex, like the Venus paintings. We are still expected to be symbols of beauty to this day.

Nathanael Lark

The following slide and poster is not art, but popular culture. Again, while we are trying to break out of this habit of objectifying of women in art and popular culture, we haven't yet been quite successful. Relate this back to Venus—our views on women are quite outdated. The only difference between then and now, we noted, is that women are thinner.

The final slide is about the feminist body art movement on Instagram. "Honor Elizabeth Curves," the founder of the movement, seeks to eliminate unrealistic expectations of body image, telling women, “be comfortable with yourself.” The take-home message: you can be beautiful and nude and not be objectified.