Gender Roles, Subject and Power

Aelfgyva and the Cleric, The Bayeux Tapestry, 1086

     "A woman must be a learner, listening quietly and with submission. I do not permit a woman to be a teacher, nor must a woman domineer over a man; she should be quit." (Chadwick, 45). The comprehensive phrase describes women's roles in a nutshell in the Middle Ages. Women's social roles then were framed by Christian ethics that highly stressed obedience and chastity. Their responsibilities were strictly maternal and domestic. Despite church ruling, every aspect of lives, AElfgyva and the Cleric from The Bayeux Tapestry, emphasizes the focus on military heroes and its subtexts concern loyalty, bravery, treachery. For many women, the only way for them to work as if it was for a business that was owned by a male family member (Guerrilla Girls, 19). Education wasn't on the horizon for females nor the independence of the mind and body.

’Woman’s Rights’ ephemeral card depicted the traditional roles and expectations of women

Moving towards the Renaissance time, some women, artists, in particular, began to push back against this notion that women should not be taken seriously. However, even then, it would make a great deal of effort for them to create their original pieces. On multiple occasions, a male would steal a female's artwork or the least dictate how it should be expressed.  For the most part, women were supposed to create only pieces that conformed to an acceptable structure of beauty and modesty; this was expected of her own appearance as well (Chadwick, 139). "As long as the women artist presented a self-image emphasizing beauty, gracefulness, and modesty, and as long as her paint appeared to conform this construction, she could, albeit with difficulty, negotiate a role for herself in the world of public art. (Chadwick, 139). The rules once again put the women in "their place." The art that is supposed to express the artist's own, vision, thoughts, and emotions had to instead confirm the audience's desires, needs, and demands. Needless to say, that the only audience back then were males. Although Renaissance is also known as a blooming period for the many aspects of life, especially art, women were forbidden apprenticeships, and they were barred from painters' guilds and academies. "One of the few ways a woman could work as an artist was to be born into a family of artists that needed assistance in the family workshop." (The Guerrilla Girls, 29). On the bright side, some humanist thinkers advocated individual equality of education for their daughters. A rare example of that is Sofonisba Anguissola, whose father beloved women should be educated. 

 Artemisia Gentileschi, Suzanne and The Elders, 1610

 The expected roles of women during the 19th century were overall to be seen but not heard and perform the necessary duties to help aid the men with their endeavors. The reform movements in the nineteenth century were influential and played a significant role in changing the economic and social changes these women faced (Chadwick, 175). These movements helped aid in women’s endeavors to establish themselves in a ’man’s world.’ However, even with these shifts in society, women’s location and class still played a significant role in how much freedom they experienced. Later, however, some of these roles began slowly switching over to more servants, and women were expected to have an education. Their education primarily consisted of attaining knowledge in the areas of drawing, music, modern language, and dance. They were shifting away from the domestic duties, and women were now expected to be considered ‘accomplished’ by being well educated in the above areas. However, there was a limit to how dedicated a woman should be to her studies. A woman who was overambitious in her pursuits was considered unfeminine. It was even stated by some doctors that too much studying could be physically damaging to a woman’s ability to reproduce. As far as virtues are concerned, chastity and motherhood were highly expected of women, and anything further was secondary. Some female artists began making bold moves with their work, painting influential female figures, or depicting their male mentor painting the artist’s portrait. 

Sofonisba Anguissola, Self-Portrait, 1556

This notion was previously unheard of, as it was the typical job of an apprentice to paint the embellishing details – so for a female artist to depict their mentor painting such petty details of a female portrait was a bold statement. It was no easy feat for these women to have their artwork taken seriously. A great example of a female artist famous for breaking the boundaries of the male-dominated world of art is Gentileschi. She was known for her bold, if not violent, paintings often depicting an act of strong female enacting revenge on a male. It is thought that some of the influence in Gentileschi’s works was attributed to her being sexually assaulted as a young adult. This is perhaps why her work so often portrays a level of violence and justice against men. It was sometimes questioned if a woman was capable of such paintings, but then decidedly so that no man would create paintings with such a strong female lead. 
Looking back, women have always been fighting for their ground and their place in society. They came a long way, and the battle is still not over. The issues women face these days are somewhat similar to what they were going through five hundred years ago, and the only difference is that we package them differently today.

Works Cited

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. Thames & Hudson, 2012. 

Guerrilla Girls. The Guerrilla Girls’ Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. Penguin 

Books, 1998. 

Hughes, Kathryn. Gender roles in the 19^th century. British Library, 15 May, 2014, 

https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/gender-roles-in-the-19th-century