One of the few women to stand out against the way men viewed and controlled women during the 17th century was Artemisia Gentileschi. She was blessed with having a father who was also a painter so at the time this was a blessing for many women as they were not scrutinized as much for being artists as well as being assisted in progressing as artists. This shows the way society during this time, had yet to begin to accept women and depicts the male gaze, a controlled gaze created by man where the woman becomes the fantasy of man and is prepared accordingly for man. The art-piece Susanna and the Elders 1610 depicts two men gawking at a half naked woman, imposing their male gaze onto her, showing what women went through during this time.
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This shows a great depiction of the power dynamic between men and women and despite the years between now and then, this can easily be reciprocated by a modern female artist today.
One of the biggest issues that I wanted to address in my semester project has to do with women and the stereotypical views that were placed on women. One such one is the 'piece of meat' view that depicts females as being nothing else than pieces of meat, they are used by men for sexual pleasure and pleasing man in general. In a similar fashion to how meat can be prepared with different ingredients, so too can women with different sets of wardrobe, hair, etc. This has its roots within the male gaze and the 'fantasy' aspect associated with the male gaze. The darker side of the piece of meat view is that women are often also treated as literal pieces of meat, leading to domestic violence and abuse, something prominent throughout history.
Piece of Meat depiction provided by:
Ad Campaign from the Rhode Island Coalition against Domestic Violence
Judy Chicago herself is a powerful feminist artist who depicts the women in history through her work. She is a strong advocate for women being empowered and not having to follow the rules created by man and be free of restraints limiting them as individuals in society. One such aspect of this is her name change, she was married a few times before she chose the moniker 'Chicago'. Before her name change, she was known as Judith Gerowitz, and in order to complete her name change, she was astounded to find out that she needed the signature of her husband to be able to do so. This greatly impacted Chicago, as she was prevented from creating a name for herself, unable to become who she wanted to be in society unless she had the signature of a man.
Viewing "The Dinner Party" 1979 by Judy Chicago is an awe-inspiring piece where it depicts many women in history with dinner plates in the form and shape of a woman's vagina. The plate itself is surrounded by utensils used during an actual dinner such as a fork, with a cloth underneath the plate with the name of a prominent woman in history. The interesting aspect to note is that towards the beginning of the piece, starting from the women in history who were known as queens and rulers, strong figures, the sight of a vagina on a plate is not as prominent. As Chicago continued the art piece, the shape and prominence on the vagina on the plate continues to increase. As many men have taken a stab at this art piece and labelled it as nothing more than 'porn' it is in fact, as least to me, a way to demonstrate the progress of women. The way the shape and dimensions of the plate become more three-dimensional symbolizes to me the power, independence and authority that women have gained throughout history.
It begins with women in history who have been viewed as strong female figures, setting the mood and tone for the rest of the women who are featured. The first is a Primordial Goddess, which embodies the power, potential and authority that women have and deserve. The next woman being the Fertile Goddess, symbolizing the power women have over reproduction, women being the ones who continue the lineage of the human race. Despite all the power that these women have, men are the ones in charge, men are the ones who have established themselves as the dominant figure, and just like these women being fictional, so too is the power that they hold, which is why the depiction of their plates is not as prominent as the ones found later in the art piece.
Judy Chicago
The "Dinner Table" in its entirety
Aside from being a great addition to works of art created by women, it is also a good homage to the women in history who accomplished great things. The other aspect of this piece is that it provides a form of a history lesson for anyone. There are many names written all over the floor underneath the table and are associated with the names next to the dinner plates on the table. It includes names such as Hildegarde of Bingen, knwon for her Scivas piece where she chronicles the visions shes has. Another such woman is Clara Barton who is known in history to be the woman who created the red cross during the civil war. With this Chicago is also able to educate many people on women as well as provide an account for them, as there are many art history books that poorly represent the women artists in history.
Hildegarde of Bingen
Known for her depictions of the visions she had from God, known as the Scivias
Hildegarde was a woman artist who in a similar fashion to Artemisia Gentileschi took a stab at the man and woman power dynamic. Hildegarde was a Christian nun who did a lot of great work for the Christian religion. Due to her visions, she became a well known individual even at a young age and was placed within a monastery. There she continued to have these visions from God and depicted some of the few she did have. This led to one such art piece that peaked my interest. It is a part of the Scivias and depicts Hildegarde having a revelation from God or a vision, as she is documenting her vision, there is another member of the church in a close proximity to where Hildegarde is. This male member of the church is attempting to copy or see what Hildegarde is writing down, showing a power dynamic even found within the realm of religion.
The art piece Scivias which depicts this man copying or spying on what Hildegarde is docuementing
Another woman that is featured on the "Dinner Table" is Virginia Woolf, who was a writer. She wrote the books A Room of One's Own (1929) and Three Guineas (1938). These books tackled the idea of that same power dynamic that men had over women. These books also tell of the struggle that intellectual women and women in many areas such as the art world have had a hard time due to men always bringing them down. Since this is closer to our modern time, the way in which Woolf's plate is on the "Dinner Table" it shows the progress of women and how Woolf was able to speak out about the issues plaguing women, giving women power.
The progress of the "Dinner Table" depicted by the design of the Virginia Woolf plate
This exhibition in the Brooklyn Museum is a step in female progression as Chicago was not afraid of standing out and creating the "Dinner Table". This also opens the door for women to get a foot into the art world more easily than ever before. Times have changed since the days where women were not allowed to be in public view without the a male figure to accompany her. This piece serves as a timeline for the progress of women but also the progress of prominent female figures who have made a difference. Although women have come a long way, unfortunately it isn't over as there are new issues plaguing them, such as internet memes and societal views of women, but this will empower women to take back the respect that they deserve just like these women who slowly but surely made progress towards female empowerment.
Bibliography
Drewford. "The Best People أحسن ناس: Under That Skirt, You're Just A Piece Of Meat!" Web log post. The Best People أحسن ناس: Under That Skirt, You're Just A Piece Of
Meat! N.p.,
09 July 2012. Web. 01 Dec. 2013.
Mulvey, Laura. Visual Pleasure and Narrative
Cinema. N.p.: Screen, 1975. PDf.
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