The Expectations of Women

Joan of Arc Enters Orleans, Jean-Jacques Scherrer, 1887

It has never been easy to be a woman. But now with the pressure society is feeling from the thousands of years of women's oppression, women are finally making small cracks in the glass ceiling. But it certainly wasn't easy for women during the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and going into the 19C. "In classical civilizations, women were the virtual prisoners of the men in their lives, but medieval women took part in almost every aspect of public life", (Guerrilla Girls, 19). Since this was the time of war and an enormous amount of poverty, women had to learn how to do men's roles while they were away at war. Women during the Middle Ages were not supported by the church to pursue anything that deemed "unwoman like to do", but they did it anyway which is pretty badass. They became writers, artists, merchants, nuns, and ran the kingdom when their husbands were away at war.  This is the same era that a young French girl named Joan of Arc led her country's army into battle and won while dressed as a man. The painting to the left made by artist Jean-Jacques Scherrer is culturally important because it is a man painting a woman at the forefront of her army. Something that would have never been able to be seen possible by a man.


Many artists in the Middle Ages were women. They either worked in businesses owned by male family members or living as nuns in convents. The most important medieval art that survived is considered to be the Bayeux Tapestry, a banner that is over 200 ft long. Scholars believe that women from the Kentish area of England embroidered the banner. "One scholarly book on the tapestry goes on and on about its historical and formal sources, but completely ignores the women who executed it. Instead, the author assumes the tapestry to be the design of a single male genius who hired it out to insignificant sewers", (Guerrilla Girls, 21).

Women who weren't nuns in the Middle Ages were usually engaged to be married at age 12 and were married by age 15. If she dared to marry another man she would be killed. If women committed adultery, they would be buried alive unlike their husbands who could do whatever they wanted. A woman could only dream of divorce if her husband forced her to have sex with another man. Almost no woman was taught how to read or write because it was seen as an interference with motherhood and being a "good wife". Women could work, but all their money would either go to their fathers, husbands, or brothers. A good beating was apart of the norm of a woman's life if she would disobey her husband.

Women in the Renaissance had more advantages than women in the Middle Ages, but still struggled to attain the same opportunities that were given to men. A woman could divorce her husband is she could prove he was impotent. Her reputation could be saved if she married the man that raped her. The only way a woman was allowed to receive education or teach was if she moved to Bologna, Italy. If she had an unwanted pregnancy, she could receive a legal abortion sanctioned by the Catholic Church, but there is a high chance that she would die. Underwear were only permitted if she was a prostitute, aristocrat, actress, or window washer. How they came up with that conclusion still boggles me.

Bologna was the city that offered so many opportunities to female artists that was unheard of before. Women were admitted to its university as early as the 13th century and were even permitted to lecture at the university. The city allowed so many women to learn philosophy and law which are even still to this day male dominated fields. A school was founded by the painter Elisabetta Sirani that took in female artists. During this time, Bologna was home to the most amount of female artists in Italy. Even with the improvement that the city had with its attitude towards women, a woman named Novello D'Andrea had to speak behind a screen to not distract the students with her "personal charm".

"I consider women writers, lawyers, and politicians as monsters and nothing but five-legged calves. The woman artist is merely ridiculous, but I am in favor of the female singer and dancer" the wise words said by Auguste Renoir (Guerrilla Girls, 47).

Rhode Island Female Artists learning how to paint, photographer unknown, 19th Cenutry

The 19th C was the beginning of the struggle to achieve women's equality. And at the same time, which is a coincidence, men brought back the objectification of painting the naked female body more than ever. With the many innovations of that time, came photography which was a great artistic path for women to take. Since it was a new invention, it was hard to be excluded from it. Because of this, women played a major role in how we use photography today. During the 19th C, a woman could finally become a practicing lawyer or doctor but to undergo the struggles they had to face to finish law/medical school made it nearly impossible.

One of the most famous female photographers of her time was Julia Margaret Cameron. She took her free time and used it to make a career that she would have never seen coming. Her daughter gave her a camera to fill up her free time to take pictures and from then on Cameron was addicted to photography. She used her maids as darkroom assistants and took portraits of anyone that would be happy to pose for her. Cameron took portraits mostly of young women and renowned old men. She sadly gave up her art to follow her husband Charles Cameron who was made governor of Ceylon. If she was a modern day woman, she would have never had to given up her artistic life for a man.



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