Feminism and Art History

Today:

• What is feminism?

• First and second waves of feminism

• Second-wave feminism and American art

• Third-wave feminism and future directions

Is this woman a feminist?

First-Wave Feminism:

Late 19th/Early 20th Centuries

First-Wave Feminism: The Historical Context

Women were widely considered to be:• Intellectually inferior • Physically weak• Emotional, intuitive, irrational• Suited to the roles of wife and mother

A woman was expected to marry and to serve her husband

• In the traditional marriage vows women promised to “obey” their husbands

First-Wave Feminism: The Historical Context

• Women could not vote• They were not educated at schools/universities and could

only work in manual jobs• A married women’s property and salary were owned by

her husband • Rape and physical abuse legal within marriage• Divorce available to men but far more difficult for

women• Women had no rights to their children if they left a

marriage• Abortion was illegal

Mary Woolstonecraft (a feminist activist) describes marriage as:

“legalised prostitution”

(in Vindication of the Rights of Woman 1792)

First-Wave Feminism

• Key period: Late 19th/Early 20th centuries• Overall goal: To improve the legal position for

women, in particular to gain women the vote

• Basic assumptions: Men and women have separate, biologically determined

roles and duties in society. Women work in the private sphere (the home), men in the public sphere.

However women should have legal protections and access to education in order to be better citizens.

So…

First-wave feminists accepted that women should be wives and mothers. They generally believed that women were intrinsically/biologically different to men; however they argued that women were treated poorly in society and were more intellectual, rational and capable than they were given credit for.

Between the first and second waves:

Key world events:

• WWI 1914-1918

• The Great Depression starts 1929 and continues through the 1930s

• WWII 1939-1945

• Some legal progress made during this time

Second-Wave Feminism: 1960s/1970s

Second-Wave Feminism: The Historical Context

Women were (still) widely considered to be:• Intellectually inferior • Physically weak• Emotional, intuitive, irrational• Suited to the roles of wife and mother

A woman was (still) expected to marry and to serve her husband

• In the traditional marriage vows women promised to “obey” their husbands

BUT…

Two key experiences were beginning to alter women’s perceptions of themselves and their role in society…

1. The War Experience

During the first and second World Wars women had worked in traditionally masculine roles – in factories, as mechanics, as builders etc - while their men fought overseas.

When the soldiers returned they were expected to return to their roles of wives and mothers, and to accept domesticity.

WWI images

2. The Civil Rights Movement

• The Civil Rights Movement gained momentum in America in the 1950s. It aimed to abolish racism in America.

• Feminists supported the Civil Rights cause, and began to organise their own protests against the unequal treatment of women.

Second-Wave Feminism: The Historical Context

• Women could vote, attend school and university; however it was difficult to gain access to high-paying, high-calibre jobs (the “glass ceiling”)

• Women did not receive equal pay for the same work• It was easier to gain a divorce but socially frowned

upon• Rape and physical abuse within marriage were

illegal but husbands were rarely convicted• Abortion was (still) illegal• Women’s bodies were objectified in advertising

Second-wave Feminism

• Key period: 1960s/1970s• Overall goal: A complete and radical overhaul of

society and culture

• Basic assumptions: Society is patriarchal (i.e. ruled by men). Women may have more legal rights but they are

still treated as inferior, second-class citizens.Women should be equal to men in all respects.

So…

• A key difference between first and second-wave feminism is that second-wave feminists no longer believed that men and women were intrinsically/biologically different. They believed that culture created the differences between sexes.

Simone de Beauvoir: “One is not born, but rather becomes a woman” (The Second Sex)

In other words…

• Second-wave feminists make a distinction between sex (male/female) and gender (masculinity/femininity).

• While a person is born a particular sex he or she is taught to be masculine or female by culture and society.

• Femininity (and masculinity) = cultural constructions, i.e. they are learnt behaviours; therefore they can be changed.

EG.

Raising boys and girls:

Second-wave feminists argued:

• The nuclear family is a prison for women who are effectively domestic slaves.

• Women deserve equal pay for equal work. • The legal system must be improved to protect women’s

rights.• Advertising and the media should be criticised for

being sexist and misogynist.• Women should not be forced to adhere to unrealistic

ideals of beauty.• Abortion must be legal in order to have equality

between the sexes.

The power of patriarchal culture

• If women had legal rights, why was culture so important to second-wave feminists?

Louise Nicholas case

NZ

Second-wave Feminism and Art History

1. The history of art is characterised by a male gaze – art treats men as subjects (as conscious, feeling, complete human beings) and women as objects (superficial, shallow, the objects of male desire)

“men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at” (John Berger 1972)

The Birth of Venus, Botticelli, 1482-1486

The Venus of Urbino, Titian, 1538

Olympia, Manet, 1863

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, Picasso, 1907

The male gaze

• Has been applied to other aspects of culture including film

Man as subject Woman as object

Second-wave Feminist artists critique the “gaze”:

Feminist Graffiti

Guerilla Girls

1989

Barbara Kruger

Your Body Is a Battleground

(1989)

Second-wave Feminism and Art History

2. Women have been restricted from becoming artists, and those few who did manage against the odds to become great artists have been ignored by (patriarchal) art historians who only discuss the work of male artists

E.g. Artemisia Gentileschi

Gentileschi

• An Italian painter 1593-c1651• Exhibited at many of the major art galleries in

Europe and the first female painter to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence

• Almost entirely ignored by art historians until the 1980s when feminists began to publish about her work

Artemisia Gentileschi

Judith Slaying Holofornes

1612-1613

Artemisia Gentileschi

Susanna and the Elders

1610

Second-Wave Feminist artists critique the position of women

artists in art history:

Artemisia Gentileschi Guerrilla and the Elders 1610

(from The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of

Western Art.)

Second-Wave Feminism and Art History

3. Women’s arts – particularly craft – have been ignored by the (patriarchal) art history tradition which focuses on painting and sculpture. Art history has treated women’s artistic activities as ‘low’ (unimportant) art.

Second-Wave Feminist artists critique the treatment of

women’s arts:

Miriam Schapiro

Lost and Found

1998

Third-Wave Feminism

• Do we still live in a patriarchal culture?

• Is feminism still relevant?

Third-Wave Feminsm: The Historical Context

• Woman seem to be more equal to men: they are performing well in education, and in previously male dominated jobs (law, politics, medicine).

• Women are no longer obligated to marry or have children, and marriage is more equal.

• The legal system is better at protecting women’s rights.

But…

• Women are still treated as objects in the media.

• There is still social pressure to marry and have children.

• Women do not always receive equal pay to men.

Therefore…

• Feminism is still relevant in the late twentieth/early twenty-first centuries but second-wave feminism is problematic because it presumes women are victims of patriarchal culture.

It cannot account for the successes women have had.

Third-Wave Feminism

• Key period: 1990s/2000s• Overall Goal: to complicate the theories of second-

wave feminism and make feminism relevant to contemporary culture.

• Basic assumption: Second-wave feminism is simplistic. Women are not simply victims of a patriarchal culture. Feminism must become more inclusive of black, lesbian,

bisexual (etc) feminists

My Bed (signed “J Bloggs”) Tracey Emin 1999

Prize of Lilies: Portrait of Joseph Makea

1986

Fiona Pardington

Discussion Question

• Has art history been characterised by a “male gaze”?

• Is the idea still relevant in popular culture?

Discussion Question

• Why is it important for women to be recognised in the arts?