This part of Gadsby's show caught my attention and intrigued me and she's right to bring up the objectification of women's bodies in art, as it continues to this day. If you're not aware, you don't have to go to a museum or take a class anymore (although you should!) to gain some general knowledge about Victorian art. A simple google search will provide a plethora of damsels in distress, over-sexualized vixens and lounging ladies with nothing to do but lie around waiting for... why, a man of course!
"Why is she like that?" - random eight year old kid's question
In fact, according to Gadsby, there are two types of women in art - the virgin and the whore. This is apparent in paintings not only by artists such as John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti but also by women such as Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale and Henrietta Rae. All portrayed women as either objects of desire or pitiful, lonely and lifeless, like these:
Fortescue-Brickdale
Rossetti
Millais
Oh and I almost forgot this one!
Because why would one not want the only guy that made it to the watering hole that day?
It's clear that the roles of women within Victorian art were intended to appeal to the male gender and although I applaud Gadsby's reference to the subject during her stand up, bringing awareness and countering the patriarchy, as a noble effort to encourage women to take control of our own destiny and reclaim our bodies, I also have faith and recognize the strength that women have as the main consumers within present-day society to do exactly that. Just as Gadsby points out, art, power and money have always been connected and although it may seem impossible to fully change the mainstream idea of what women ought to be, with regard to how we are viewed as people, we have come a long way since Victorian ideals had hold of our identity and it's important to stay the course, continually taking progressive steps into the future.
Hi Julie! I enjoyed looking at the collection of Victorian paintings that you have on your blog post. Are you familiar with John Berger’s “Ways of Seeing?” Berger has some interesting insights on the male gaze in art, particularly female nudes. Berger’s round table with women talking about their perspectives towards the depictions of nudity/ women in art is fascinating. It is worth seeing after watching Gadsby talk about it. Here is the link to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvtfJ00fe1E
ReplyDeleteJulie I really appreciated and enjoyed your post. it was so informative and organic, so thank you! I really liked what you pointed out about women in Victorian art. They truly do typically seem to be laying down, distressed or over-sexualized. Unfortunately, I think a lot of media these days still follow this model. We are getting away from this in ways though too I think. Victoria's Secret models vs. Aerie models, that kind of example. I think we are making great strides focusing on what women truly are rather than what men want them to be, or what art has portrayed them to be in the past in the examples you have above. Overall, this was a super informative post and I thought it was great! (Unit 5 comment)
ReplyDeleteI think art history is super interesting, and I liked how Gadsby talks about it for a big portion of her show. I agree with Emily, women continue to be sexualized in social media as well as the modeling industry. Also, the painting of the woman laying in the water is just creepy!
ReplyDeleteAs Emily pointed out, we still see an unfortunate amount of oversexualized women and the dynamic of the whore or the virgin played out again and again. They're not only offensive representations of women, they're also unimaginative, which in the end, is just boring. I'm sure that there are dynamic female characters who can fit into those roles, but the point is that they aren't only the roles, and they have other thoughts and feelings. At this point, art needs to evolve not just for the sake of equality, but also for the sake of creativity. We only need so many paintings of women lounging bonelessly across a chaise sofa. Women are diverse people, and we deserve diverse representation.
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