Roles of Women

A woman’s role in the Middle Ages were quite simple: be a mother/wife/daughter, stay in the house while the men went out to do their thing, cook, clean, care for the kids, and that was it. There were times were the women were able to have their own recreation time where they could sew, dance, or even paint and for some women, it got to the point where they are tired of only painting for recreation.

While many women were fighting for their education and their rights to be able to have their own careers, those who were “in classical civilizations were the virtual prisoners of the men in their lives” (Guerilla Girls, pg 19). The pressure of being a woman was never something that we were warned about, but especially back in the Middle Ages the term “prisoner” cleanly describes what it was like to be a woman. It took a lot of years to get past all of it, it took a lot of women willing to rebel and finally do what they want however that alone took connections.

Moving through the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, it was still the same nonsense however if you had the right family you were able to get yourself into an academy or painters guild. The only way to become somewhat successful and begin your path was to be born into a family of painters who can supply you with tools and a location to paint. Sofonisba Anguissola was considered one of the lucky ones in her day because her father was a well-known painter who believed in education for women. So, when Sofonisba grew older and found her love for painting her father let her work in his workshop and sent her paintings out to the great Michelangelo.

Sofonisba Anguissola, self portrait

Unfortunately, just because these women found their way to produce their art does not mean it was something that was becoming welcomed. While it was something that became more normalized, I guess you could say for women to paint, they still were not able to receive wages or anything for their paintings so it was just like they were back into painting for fun on their recreation time. Because of that, the subjects of what they painted were very limited. There were self-portraits, bible stories, their own stories or scenarios that happened to them, but you would never see something painted by a woman that consisted of an action men would do, besides them staring at women. For women to be seen anywhere trying to sell their paintings or just anywhere outside of the house at all was something that apparently made men uncomfortable as they must have been afraid of women becoming more superior.

Friendless and Nameless, Emily Mary Osborn 1857

Into the 19^th century though, women started going and finally getting places with their art. They were able to be educated, were seen with their art from different parts of the world, and finally stuck together in their form of a sisterhood to do what they knew had to be done. They were willing to fight back and knew their worth with their art and that was paved by those women in the earlier century who were not afraid to be vocal about their opinions on women not being able to earn wages from their work. The women were finally able to get up and show that we are equal to men when it came to the art and some women were even better than the male artists. Women were getting asked to paint pictures for royal families which was a huge success, and even though there were some that received back backlash, they sacrificed and followed through for the growth of the future and the culture of women and that was something important to do during the 19^th century, especially in such a time where there are a lot of things changing. The women weren’t afraid to fight for what they wanted at that point because it’s almost as if they were trying to do so for the longest time and it was just a process of elimination.

Feeding the Swans, Edith Hayllar 1889 

Having to constantly fight to prove yourself as a woman is something that will always be relevant however I think today we have seen so many successful women in doing so that it is good motivation and a reminder to never give up because the fight might not help you directly, but it will make an impact down the road.

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