The Roles of Women in Society via Art

          The late James Brown once said, “This is a man’s world/ But it would be nothing, nothing/ Without a women or a girl.” While many people would be inclined to agree with James Brown nowadays, women were once thought to be, and sadly still are viewed as, the opposite- nothing. The idea that women are “nothing” and subordinate to men is a misogynistic belief that has been around since the beginning of civilization and still permeates modern societies of the 21st century. The idea that women were inferior to men made it understandably difficult for a woman to be recognized as a human with thoughts and opinions, let alone a human that had actual talent (artistic in this sense). Focusing on the role of gender in society, Whitney Chadwick and The Guerrilla Girls describe the hill of societal equality that women had to, and continue to, climb via art of women and art by women.

The Middle Ages describes the period between the fall of Rome and classical civilization and the emergence from darkness into the light of the Renaissance- which spans from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages are characterized by a strict belief in the church and a very strict class system with limited social mobility. The church believed that, via a skewed interpretation of the book of Genesis, women were to blame for the sins of the world because Eve ate from the forbidden tree and women were subordinate to men because Eve was created from man to be his “help-meet.” Society, being highly invested in the church and its teachings, blindly followed suit and forced women into the only corner they could call their own- the home. This meant that the only power a woman would’ve had “is [in] the private world of the family” (Chadwick 71) and, even then, that power was limited. Women “had to obey [their] husband[s],” were denied the chance to be “taught to read and write,” and couldn’t earn a living because “the fruits of their labors belonged to men” (Guerrilla Girls 22). Even the wealthy women were bound by the same rules despite their elevated status among other women of society. This all began to change, albeit slightly, with the coming of the Renaissance.

Adam and Eve, late 13th century
An illumination from a volume of a large selection of Hebrew texts

The Renaissance was a time of change and rebirth, a period denoted by the growth of science, math, art, and ideologies. Despite giving rise to many immortally famous males like Michelangelo and Titian “who made things tough for women artists” (Guerrilla Girls 29), the Renaissance also opened the doors for a few female artists to finally have their chance in the spotlight. This was due to the growing mobility among social classes and the popularity of a “revolutionary” idea called humanism. Contrary to the Middle Ages whose only foreign relations included conquering their neighbors, the Renaissance gave way to an increase in trade among European nations and thus the birth of a mercantile, “middle-class.” This middle class wasn’t the way we see “middle-class” today, but it meant that people could be something other than the two choices they would’ve had in the Middle Ages- filthy rich or dirt poor (filthy rich being quite unattainable by almost 99% of the population). In addition to the growing market and social structure, peoples’ brains seemed to grow too and finally saw women as human beings. The growth of humanism and the importance of the individual caused some men to become more lenient in regards to their restrictions on women. The key words are some and restrictions. Despite some husbands and fathers allowing their wives and daughters to paint or become educated, women were still “on the fringes of [a] new system of representation [that] mirrored her place in society generally” (Chadwick 74)- which means that women were still, not surprisingly, restricted.

Knowing the role of a woman in the Middle Ages and even the Renaissance, one would find it hard to believe that a woman could even breathe without being criticized, let alone paint and be famous for it. For a woman to be an exceptional artist in a historical sense, she would need to be an exception to the status quo of society at the time. The exceptions that we know about and have discussed in class all have a common bond among them that has allowed them to be famous. They were all educated in some sense and they were encouraged by their male counterparts to pursue their artistic talents…it didn’t hurt that most of them were somewhat wealthy, too.

One exceptional woman who was an exception to society is Christine De Pizan, an artist of the late Middle Ages. Despite being a woman, Pizan was known for her many poems, lyrics, and ballads and was one of the first known women to have actually made a living off of her work (Guerrilla Girls 23). She was educated and supported by her father as well as her husband, but wasn’t wealthy due to the fact that her husband died and she became a widow. One of her most notable works was written in 1405 and titled The City of Ladies where she challenged the misogynistic nature of men and poked fun at the vices of society. Even though Pizan wasn’t oppressed within her own family like most women were, she still was oppressed by society and chose to fight back via her artistic ability.

Christine Lecturing to Men, 15th century

Another exception to the societal predicament that women were stuck in is Sofonisba Anguissola. Again educated and encouraged to paint, Sofonisba painted many portraits of herself painting or she painted pictures of other women being women. Her confidence and choice of subject matter (women), like Pizan, was a result of female oppression as a whole and was intended to make people look at women in a different light. 

Self Portrait, 1556

The same attitude has been carried out by many other female artists far beyond the Middle Ages and Renaissance, even into the late 19th century where many women were better off than they would’ve been in any of the afore mentioned time periods. We see this in the work of Rosa Bonheur who, even though she doesn’t directly paint women, symbolically paints scenes of nature and animals to represent the struggles and inequality that women have yet to be able to break free from.

Plowing of the Nivernais, 1849

       Even though women have gained more rights and freedoms and experienced greater social mobility since the Middle Ages, women still aren’t equal to men on a socio-economic scale. Even after hundreds of years of supposed change, society still can’t shake its patriarchal roots or misogynistic nuances. Women still face inequality and men really don’t do anything to change it. We can only hope that we learn from the few exceptions that history has presented us with and emulate their success on a broader scale to the point where the exception is no longer a rare occurrence, but a common thing to see- and art will definitely have a hand in that.

Works Cited

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. 4th. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2007. Print.

The Guerrilla Girls. The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion To The History of Western Art. New York: Penguin Books, 1998. Print.