Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Gender Roles throughout History


By: Jennifer Ezeuka

            Throughout history, women have always had a harder time to “match-up” with men and often faced discrimination.  In the earlier parts of history, women only gained recognition if they belonged to a wealthy/art inclined family or if they didn’t mind being in the shadows of their husbands.  Much later, in the twentieth century, women functioned both as producers of this new “visual culture” and as signifiers of fashion.  In this post, I’ll examine 5 artists ranging from the 18th century to present who demonstrated the many themes discussed in class, but mainly focusing on the gender role as well as women who overcame these gender inequalities in the art world.
Attributed to Ann Hall-1825-30
            Ann Hall (1792-1863) was a very accomplished miniature painter who later became the first woman member of the National Academy of Design in New York City.  Today this is looked at as a very big accomplishment and during her time period, this was an even bigger accomplishment.  One of her pieces that stood out to me in the Newark Museum was titled “Louisa and Eliza Macardy” (1845).  This was a double portrait which showed the intimacy between a mother and daughter.  They both had a physical as well as emotional bond which could be seen by their intertwined fingers.  Overall a very nice piece, I feel that Ann Hall pushed the gender roles and as result was put into the National Academy of Design an all male institute at the time.
"We both must fade"
            Another artist who demonstrated themes discussed in class is Lily Martin Spencer (1822-1902).  She was popular in the mid 19th century and focused on “girlhood imagery” and children in warm atmospheres, this was a theme that later became accepted in American art.  In terms of class, Spencer played a big role to the middle class.  Many of her lithographs were produced in mass quality and distributed to the middle class.  She created pieces that could be financially accessible to the middle class and used as home decorations.  An interesting piece of hers was titled “Height of Fashion” (1884).  This piece basically poked fun at the high class, the pretentiousness of the child, and mannerisms associated with the high class.  Lily Martin Spencer was definitely an artist whom catered to the middle class and overall played a major role.
"The Dreamer"
            My third artist is Cecilia Beaux (1855-1942).  I chose her not only because of her sympathy towards the ruling class, but also because of achievements in terms of gender.  Beaux received a gold medal from the woman organization Omega Chi in 1933 from the then first lady Eleanor Roosevelt.  This is a very prestigious honor and award only given to “American women who contributed on the international stage.”  In her piece, “Fanny Travis Cochran,” one of the main focuses was Fanny’s sash.  At this time period, the three most common symbolic objects associated with girlhood were flowers, pets, and dolls; In this case, the pansies vivid color reinforced the luscious color of Fanny’s sash.  All in all, despite obstacles, Cecilia Beaux became very successful and inspired many other women artist to come.
"The Nursery"
                Another artist who stood out to me was Alice Barber Stevens (1858-1932).  Most of her work was done during the Gilded Age; this was a time period in time associated with consumerism.  The Gilded Age was also a time that factories, railroads, mining, and labor unions boomed.  A lot of these themes were portrayed in Steven’s work.  In terms of the gender roles in art, Alice Barber Stevens overcame them in many ways.  She became a regular contributor to the Ladies Home Journal and also won the prize as best painting for a resident woman.  Through her education and determination, Stevens was also able to be successful despite her gender and time period.
     My last artist is Dorothea Lange (1895-1965).  She was very famous for her compelling photographs taken during The Great Depression.  Many of which documented the change on the home front during war and her main focus were usually ethnic groups, workers, and displaced families uprooted by the war.  In 1972, twenty-seven of Dorothea Lange’s photographs were incorporated into the executive order 9066 by the Whitney Museum.  This was obviously a great honor and later down the road, she also got many acclaim by The New York Times.  All of these accomplishments by Dorothea Lange and the many other artists were done by being trendsetters, not caring what others think, and overall taking chances.  They didn’t follow the “roles” that women were "suppose" to take on or live, but instead they thought for themselves, they didn’t allow one, in most cases the male to dictate their lives.  In my opinion, this is very inspiring even today, right now, and I believe we all should take risks and live our own lives to its full potential!!    

"Migrant Mother"
 -Links to videos/sites on all pictures



Work Cited

Cecilia Beaux, American Figure Painter, High Museum of Art, 2007

Angels and Tomboys Exibit
Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey

Alice Barber Stevens, The Plastic Club, Philadelphia, PA

Dorothea Lange: Biography, Spartcus Educational

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