Fatema Kermalli Females in art are usually seen in a position of submission to a dominant male figure. Devereaux states: “As the ‘other’, woman learns to submerge or renounce her subjectivity. She finds her identity in the subjectivity of the men to whom she is attached… In the eyes of men, she finds her identity as the object of men’s desire” (127). This idea is clearly depicted within the painting by Henri Pierre Danloux of a poet and his wife. Here the wife is placed below her husband. She is sitting on the floor and literally looking up to her husband, as if expectantly waiting for him to bestow some more “poetic” wisdom on her. He, on the other hand, stands up straight and tall above her. He appears lost in his own thoughts and is looking away from his wife into the distance-acting as though she didn’t exist.
Another example lies in the comparison of two pieces; one depicting a female (milkmaid) and a horse, the other with a male (captain) and horse as the subjects. The female is shown leaning on the horse for support, as though she is incapable of standing up by herself. This is similar to what Devereaux mentions regarding film: “At the simplest level, Haskell and others had maintained, film reinforced women’s dependence on men” (128). Her facial expression also appears to be one of fatigue; even though her gaze does meet that of the viewer, her look is more one of disinterest than it is a look filled with defiance, courage, or high self-esteem. Contrastingly, the male, though he does not face the viewer, gives off an air of confidence. It is as though he does not deign to look at the viewer (rather than looking away from them in fear or shame). He does not lean on anything, but stands upright whilst actually holding the horse (who is obviously frightened of something) in place. While the female’s form with its curves, and the way she is seen leaning into the horse, seems to refer to a liquidity of movement (symbolizing her willingness to “give in” and be easily persuaded), that of the male is straight and unyielding (perhaps referring to a supposed firmness of mind that former societies would have not thought present within the female).
Hence the development of feminist “…critiques of the broad Western tradition…that the universal subject is historically situated (masculine, patriarchal, imperialistic)…” (Brand 7-8).
The second formal aspect under discussion is the actions that females are depicted engaging in, and how this may relate to the fact that they are, indeed, females. This aspect of the art is also connected in part to the question of who the intended audience is.
In the introduction by Brand and Korsmeyer, it talks about the definitions “privileging ‘high’ art over low, ‘fine’ art over craft, men’s art over women’s” that feminists found oppressive (11). If we go back to the picture of the poet and his wife, we can see that here again, there is a disparity in the type of actions that each person is engaged in. The man is apparently generating poetry; he is doing creative work of the mind creating a type of “art” that may be said to afford “an escape from the individual ego and unites all who experience it in a common appreciation, transhistorical and transcultural” (Brand 7). His wife, on the other hand, is writing down what he says. The work of a simple scribe, this act of transcribing ideas is both figuratively and literally placed below that of actually creating the ideas themselves.
The same idea can be applied to the horse paintings. The female in the picture, as per the title, is a milkmaid… a great contrast to the captain, with his assumed many great deeds and intrinsically action-packed lifestyle.
Beyond this, the actions of women in art may actually be said to be a performance for male viewers. As Brand states: “Supplanting older notions of aesthetic perception, theories of the gaze analyze the pleasure to be found in representation by bringing to light the consciousness of the culturally prescribed viewer: a male of dominant social standing” (15-6). Such performance for the male eye is present within the painting of The Pleiades… depicting females scantily covered by “drapes” that appear to be in the middle of a type of ethereal dance. Their movements are painted in such a way that “shows a lot of skin” and may be arousing to the typical male viewer for whom it appears to have been created. They are present within the scene of the painting as they are for the very reason of attracting or pleasing male viewers. Hence the necessity for a sign such as the one created by the Guerrilla Girls regarding the number of pictures of nude women within the
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3 comments:
As Fatema stated, the artwork that includes both men and women supports the concept that women should be submissive to men. As seen from the painting of the poet and his wife, the women is viewed as being below the man; her status is lower than his is. When women are portrayed in paintings created by men, they are usually sitting or leaning against something, giving off the impression that they need support, and are not able to stand on their own. In contrast however, when men are the subjects of the paintings, they almost always give off the impression of strength and masculinity, standing on their own in confidence and almost a sense of arrogance. In art, women are portrayed more as objects, judged by their appearance, while men are portrayed as subjects, judged by their actions.
I thought your whole post was very insightful, and I commend you for it. The comparison between the two horse paintings was very interesting. One shows the male as triumphant and empowered, while the other shows the female as weak and feeble. Also, I thought it was interesting that you said, "the actions of women in art may actually be said to be a performance for male viewers." I had never really thought of it that way, but I definitely agree with your analysis.
The attention given to body language in this post was impressive. You took everything into account, from obvious details, such as the wife sitting on the floor (below her husband)to minute details such as the woman being incapable of standing on her own. character placement is something we often take for granted and it serves as subliminal messaging for the viewer. I particularly liked the quote you used from Devereaux about a woman finding her identity in the "men to whom she is attached." It was also interesting to see (in the paintings you selected) how the inferiority of women is depicted whether or not they are presented with a man. The comparison of the paintings with horses were perfect examples, taken seperately I might not have noticed that the woman was portrayed as incapable of supporting herself, but side by side with the painting of a man it became obvious. The painting of the group of women once again showed women in an inferior position, even though all were supporting their own physical weight, none of them seemed to have any complex thoughts. A man would never be seen engaging in such a mindless, whimsical activity, but the artist seemed to think it fit females just fine, the "male gaze."
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