For the love of a woman: The Renaissance vs The Contemporary

An analysis into the representation of women in art history and how this fed into the socio-political deprivation of women’s health rights

For as long as we can remember, women, as a gender, have been second in the hierarchy of society. Our entire purpose moulded to the needs of men. As a mother to teach them, as a sexual object to satisfy their gaze and fill their desire. As a wife to love, support and obey them. As an incubus to rear their children. As a maid to keep the home they bought, cook the food they eat and as a mother to teach and continue the cycle for our future sons and daughters. This was a role we were taught was bestowed upon us by God from early Catholicism. From the creation of Eve from Adam’s rib, the patriarchal society utilised faith and religion to reinforce that this was our purpose for living. To maintain such a lifestyle with the belief that we have no choice in the matter is one many would not agree with. What of the possibility I can’t have children? What if I don’t want children? What if I enjoy sex and want to do it recreationally as opposed to the single purpose of creating life? What if I don’t want to have sex at all? What if I want to make a name for myself and utilize my talents? What if I want a career and to make money in my name? You’re probably reading this and thinking I am still stuck in the 14th century. It is indisputable that current society has progressed immensely in regards to women’s rights and equality. Women can work in a variety of different fields. We have access to an array of contraception for safe sex, we have the choice of whether or not we have children with options such as abortion, adoption, in-vitro insemination etc. With the development of technology, the expansion of industries the world over, there are an endless amount of opportunities for women. We even have the option of divorce, the ability to own property and/or land in our name and to be in control of our own finances. More importantly we have choice and free will to decide for ourselves. From this perspective we have come a very, very long way from the 14th century, but my question is this, can we claim to be equal to the male gender when the male gender controls so much of our society? As Kate Millet illustrates in her book Sexual Politics (1971), “Our society…is a patriarchy. The fact is evident at once if one recalls that the military, industry, technology, universities, science, political offices, finances – in short every avenue of power within society, including the coercive force of the police is in entirely male hands.” (cited in G. Pollock, 1988). So much so that even in today’s society, the debate for a woman’s autonomy, equality and reproductive health is still coming into question, politically. In October 2017, the UN Working Group released a press release expressing their concern on the lack of sufficient progress regarding the integration of women’s health rights in domestic law. ‘The right of a woman or girl to make autonomous decisions about her own body and reproductive functions is at the core of her fundamental right to equality and privacy…’ (UNWG, 2017) and yet in many countries such as Malta, San Marino, Poland and the Vatican to name a few, abortion is still illegal. That’s not to diminish the distinguished journey feminism has taken in our current society. From as far back as the statements made in 1791 by “Mary Wollstonecraft in her text, ‘the Vindication of the Rights of Women’ laying heavy stress on the distortion of women’s moral character by the oppressive conditions under which women lived.” (R. W. Connell, 1987), to the current MeToo and Time’s Up movements of 2018. However, what fails to be considered is how much of an influence culture has in maintaining these age-old traditional gender roles. Griselda Pollock states:

“Patriarchy does not refer to the static, oppressive domination by one sex over another, but to a web of psycho-social relationships which institute a socially significant difference on the axis of sex which is so deeply located in our very sense of lived, sexual, identity that it appears to us as natural and unalterable. To oppose this powerful web, we have to develop a theory of how gender is actually produced, how sexuality is socially organised into the categories of masculinity and femininity, lived out through social positions as wives, mothers, daughters, fathers, sons, etc. But they have to constantly be reinforced by representations that are made to us in the range of ideological practices that we call culture. Pictures, photographs, films etc. are addressed to us as their viewers and work upon us by means of winning our identification with those versions of masculinity and femininity which are represented to us. It is a process of constantly binding us to a particular – but always unstable – regime of sexual difference.” (Vision and Difference, 1988, pg.33-34)

Pollock identifies that there is a longstanding and ingrained social mentality that has stood the test of time through the reinforcement of popular culture as well as family dynamics and education. What I would like to focus on specifically is the aspect of popular culture’s influence on reinforcing gender roles and enabling the gender difference. Especially, the influence of the arts as a significant and definitive aspect of popular culture that reinforces and enables the deprivation of women’s health rights through the representation of its women. Comparatively, this thesis will focus on two different time periods of art history, the Renaissance and current Contemporary art, to pinpoint and analyse how the depiction of the female gender in art history has in fact made a significant contribution to societies’ view of a woman’s position but also an insight into how the male gender views women.

The Goddess: The Female Nude

One of the most prominent depictions of women in the Renaissance was that of the female goddess. The term ‘Renaissance’ means ‘rebirth’ and refers to a revived interest in the intellectual and artistic treasures of Ancient Greece and Rome (S. Farthing, 2010). As Christianity was still prominent in that time, the revival of Greek art became intertwined with the inspiration of Christian symbology. A particular aspect of interest in Greek art was the representation of the female nude as a Greek goddess, specifically the Goddess ‘Venus’. Sandro Botticelli’s ‘The Birth of Venus’ (See Figure 1) and Titian’s ‘Venus of Urbino’ (See Figure 2) are just two of the many replications and renditions of this particular thematic. A common factor of both renditions, is that of the pose that you see both paintings use, the ‘Venus Pudica’, the depiction of an idealised female nude who covers her pubis with her hand. (N. Solomon, 1996, pg.70) The illustration of such a pose renders the female in an inescapable condition of both complete nudity and mortification. Renaissance artists took advantage of this facet of representing the female nude ‘for the work it does in defining the female nude as essentially sexual, and on that account, in a state of perpetual fear and vulnerability’. (N. Solomon, 1996, pg.77) This portrayal coincided with Christian views on the gender difference as it was the ‘perfect formulation for images of Eve as the embodiment of sin in general and female weakness specifically’ (N. Solomon, 1996, pg.77) However, as the artists fail to depict any tangible shameful expression from the female’s face, the hands that attempt to cover the pubis and the female breast do not represent the mortification that comes with a momentary reaction of being caught in the nude, and instead depicts a normal state of being, reinforcing the Christian view that a woman should inherently be chaste and shameful of her naked body. This in itself reinforces the fetishization of female nudity, as the realism of such works not only influences the way a male viewer will perceive a woman, but will also affect the expectations of a woman. The artists make the most desirable thing about the female body the pubis and/or the breasts, as they are the only thing that cannot be seen. In the presence of the painting, the viewer cannot help but to think about what is covered. In doing so, the artists portray the female as the sexual object meant only for the titillation of men, but ‘the real issue lies in…how the work is absorbed as ideology; how it was most often and consistently understood and how it may have been creatively, ideologically misunderstood.’ (N. Solomon, 1996, pg.76).

Figure 1: ‘The Birth of Venus’ painted by Sandro Botticelli

Figure 2: ‘Venus of Urbino’ painted by Titian

The concept of the sexual objectification of women; the idea that women are objects specifically for the male gaze, is just another example of how the representation of women by male artists reinforced the expectation of women in society and how men should view women. Additionally, as aforementioned, the Renaissance period itself was a revival of interest in Greek art, but with Greek art comes with it the Greek ideologies. Greek societies generally believed that ‘women were possessions…Athenian men have a lust to possess…any men who do not go out to control other people as the Athenians do are naturally perceived as weaker than their women.’(Cameron & Kuhrt, 1983, pg.4-5) This ideology aligns with that of the Christian view that the female is for the servitude of the male. Additionally, this concept of possession and control is synonymous with the act of rape, using the sexual act of penetration without consent to obtain control over the female body. As a result, a common thematic of Renaissance art is that of the glorification of rape. Many representations of the thematic of rape are from an external point of view, for example ‘The Rape of the Sabine Women’ by Giovanni Bologna (1583) (see Figure 4), in which there is an overwhelmingly real depiction of the rape scene playing out, as if the artist were an audience member watching a scene from a play, where the heroically idealized male protagonist reaches the end of his self-discovery, and the climax is a demonstration of the male control that comes with the act of rape (G. R. Denson, 2017).

Simultaneously, female renditions of rape do not actually depict the scene of rape occurring, but only the sexual assault that leads up to the occurrence of rape or the aftermath. This in itself is very telling of the emotional impact that comes with depicting this sort of topic. For example, Artemisia Gentileschi’s ‘Susanna and the Elders’ (1610) (see Figure 3) re-tells chapter 13 of the Book of Daniel. In the story, the Hebrew girl Susanna is spied on while she bathes by two leering elderly men. These men then attempt to blackmail her for sex, and when she declines, the elderly men attempt to destroy her reputation by lying about what happened and blaming Susanna as a plot for revenge. She is later arrested and brought to trial but fortunately Susanna is absolved of all charges and the men are executed. Unfortunately, a year after Gentileschi painted this piece, she herself was raped by her tutor, Agostino Tassi. He was arrested and put on trial for refusing to marry her after raping and taking her virginity and would be sentenced to a year in prison. He never serves his sentence (The Trivium Art History Project, 2011). The depressing irony that Susanna’s story ends with her assaulters getting their due justice, while in reality, Gentileschi would have to live knowing her rapist walks free. It is this kind of personal experience that differs in the reality of a male and female perspective of the subject. A male artist’s glorification of the subject of rape would influence the male species into thinking the act of rape is empowering and a method of gaining control, whereas a female perspective would give you the grit and horror of the personal experience of being defiled, so much so that you would logically empathise and see the validity of her perspective; however, the female perspective seems to still fall on deaf ears.

Figure 3: ‘Susanna and the Elders’ painted by Artemisia Gentileschi (1610)

Figure 4: ‘The Rape of the Sabine woman’ painted by Giovanni Bologna (1583)

It is more understandable that the level of ignorance in regards to the act of rape would be higher in a time period such as the Renaissance, with the patriarchy being as strong as it was, but what is shocking is the level of ignorance in current society. In the world of contemporary art, luckily, I would not be able to name any current male artists that glorify the topic of rape, unless they wanted their careers and reputations to be completely obliterated. However, on the contrary, I could create a list of female artists that used their personal experience of daily sexual harassment or past experiences of rape/molestation to influence and inspire their artistic practice, for example, ‘A few small nips’ by Frida Kahlo (1935) (see figure 5), ‘Untitled Centrefold’ by Cindy Sherman (1984), ‘Raped’ by Kathe Kollwitz (1907) (see figure 6)to name a few. You would think that this asymmetry in testimony between gendered artistic perspective would logically confirm how rape as a singular act should be taken with serious engagement and justice. And yet, in November 2018, Amnesty International found that only 9 out of 31 European countries analysed have laws that define rape on the absence of consent. They also found that 1 in 20 women aged 15 and over in the EU have been raped (9 million women). Anna Blus, the Amnesty International’s Researcher on Western Europe and Women’s Rights stated “Although movements like #MeToo have inspired many women to speak out about their experiences, the sad fact is that rape remains hugely under-reported in Europe. Women’s fear of not being believed is confirmed time and time again, as we see courageous survivors who do seek justice frequently failed by outdated and harmful definitions of rape in law and treated appallingly by justice officials”.(A. Blus, AIR, 2018) Unfortunately, the strength of the patriarchy, both in art history and general society, has created an uneven battlefield based on a millennia of clashing gendered perspectives on the portrayal of the female body and the depiction of rape. But it is from the prominent gender differences between the artistic depictions of ethical values from men and women, ranging from the renaissance to the current contemporary art, that we can begin to get an insight into how and why rape not only persists at such a high prevalence in society, but as well as how visual imagery can influence the ideology around the societal expectations and the difficulties of the female gender.

Figure 5: ‘Few small nips’ painted by Frida Kahlo (1935)

Figure 6: ‘Raped’ by Kathe Kollwitz (1907)

The Virgin and The Whore: Eve vs Mary

A significant basis upon which a model of women in Renaissance art was built is that of the Virgin Mary and Eve. Both used by the Church to force a misogynistic expectational state of living for women; i.e. what to do and what not to do, which was achieved with the reinforcement of certain images and concepts in renaissance paintings. The Virgin Mary was considered a pious, chaste and obedient women devoted to Christianity and the perfect role model for women in the eyes of the Church. She was recognised for her divine power as a “sexual anomaly, an impossibility, for she was supposed to be a virgin and a mother.” (A. Clark, 2008). Eve, however, was considered a dangerous, disobedient temptress responsible for getting Man exiled from the Garden of Eden with her ‘Original Sin’. The Church puts the entire blame on Eve as well as her descendants, i.e. the entire female population, and therefore uses her image as a juxtaposition to the Virgin Mary. Since the Virgin Mary was revered as the epitome of a Catholic woman, the one virtue that was mainly focused on was her title, the Virgin. Being a virgin or keeping your virginity was akin to divine power and was enforced among women everywhere, so much so that a cult was built up around her. Her image presented women with an “elevated model of total purity, holiness in a maternal guise…By imitating the Virgin, women could justify their participation in the life of the church…this strengthened the ancient misogynist condemnation of woman as Eve…as the unalterable embodiment of disobedience, lust and all the sins which Eve brought into the world.” (Cameron & Kuhrt, 1983). These contrasting female archetypes have been known to be paired together compositionally in renaissance pieces such as Carlo de Camerino’s ‘The Madonna of Humility with the Temptation of Eve’ (circa 1400) (see figure 7) as a way of policing the behaviour of women so that they would emulate the ways of the virgin (Mary) and disregard the ways of the whore (Eve). This was enforced through the constant coupling of Eve in her bare form with a ‘female-headed basilisk, an imaginary creature interpreted by Christian popular thinking as one of the guises adopted by Satan’ (M. Meyer, 2009) which would purposefully resemble the face of Eve and compositionally be placed between her legs emphasising the sinful nature of her inherent sexuality and conveying how her sexuality became her downfall. Comparatively, the Virgin Mary would typically be portrayed fully clothed, with a single breast out feeding the baby Christ as she looks down lovingly at him, as a symbol for her devotion to Christianity as well as carrying out the biological duty of her gender. Interestingly, the use of nudity in both depictions shows how men view the female form as for them, as Eve is depicted as sensual and tempting, the embodiment of sin through her naked body to entice the male gaze, whereas the little nudity shown in the Virgin Mary is maternal and specifically for the feeding of the baby Christ. Either way the female body serves man, both as a sexual object and as a mother.

Figure 7: ‘The Madonna of Humility with the Temptation of Eve’ (c.1400s) by Carlo de Camerino

This virgin/whore dichotomy limited women in many ways, as men were able to gain full control on what a woman should and shouldn’t do in the name of religion, successfully enabling and further defining the gender difference. Authors such as Paolo de Certaldo were very vocal on what was expected of women: “She did not spend time outside her house chatting here, there and everywhere, nor listening to men nor looking at them, on the contrary, she was shut away in a hidden and honest place…and so all faithful Christian women should learn from her [Mary] and follow her, so that they would be acceptable to God and to their husbands and to everybody else that they know.”(1997, cited in N, Rachael G. 2017) Men were able to control almost every aspect of women’s lives from what they said to what they did, but one thing they could not control was the biology of the female body, but that didn’t stop them from voicing their opinions on it. Due to Eve’s ‘Original Sin’, she is also responsible for Eve’s curse, which is God’s punishment to all her descendants as penance for her crime i.e. the menstrual cycle. Considering the Church views Eve as a sinner, anything to do with her would be considered sinful, therefore menstrual blood is depicted as unholy and unclean, so much so that the very concept of a menstrual sanitary precaution is met with repulsed outrage. The Bible itself contains a passage in Leviticus stating:

“Anyone who touches any furniture she sits on must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. If there is something on the bed or on the furniture she sits on; when he touches it ,he will be unclean until evening, and if a man actually goes to bed with her [sexual intercourse] so that her menstrual impurity touches him, then he will be unclean for seven days and any bed he lies on will be unclean.”(Lev. 15:22-24, NET)

I don’t know about you but it just sounds like a grown-up version of a little boy afraid of “girl germs”. It is this kind of widespread mentality amongst men that created an environment of shame for women. Its normality, considering it literally happens once a month for every woman on the planet from puberty onwards, did nothing to sway this perspective. For something that is treated with such negative connotations, you would not imagine that it would be portrayed in any form of renaissance art seeing as the large majority of painters were male. Yet, the most direct form of representation of the menstrual cycle was that of talismanic imagery. Despite the outright disgust from the male perspective, there was still a scientific curiosity on how necessary menstruation was and its link to a woman’s’ fertility. Paintings, like any other form of visual culture, were a significant form of influence and it was believed that by keeping specific paintings in the household, their narrative and talismanic images could help influence the female body to induce menstruation and therefore increase the chance of higher fertility. (R. Nutt, 2017, pgs. 7-19) Sandro Botticelli’s ‘Primavera’ (c.1445-1510) (see figure 8 and 9) is one such example. Originally the piece was a commission requested by Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici as a gift to his new bride Semiramide Appiano to commemorate their marriage. Notably the talismanic imagery depicted in the piece is that of the gems/jewellery worn by the Three Graces. The three graces themselves are known for representing pleasure, chastity and beauty in Greek mythology. The jewellery of which the two facing the viewer adorn themselves with is reminiscent of the bridal jewellery that was custom given as counter-dowry to the bride from the grooms family as a symbol for the bride’s biological debt, “the physical duty of acting as a vessel for her husband’s seed, surrendering her body and its functions to produce children.” (R. Nutt, 2017, pg. 19) This use of talismanic imagery to induce the menstrual cycle as a form of maximising fertility is just one example of the contradictory patriarchal manipulation that has stood the test of time. Being so forceful in their disgust of women even having this biological trait, to the point where women could not even enter religious institutes due to their ‘unclean’ nature, but to then go so far as to try to induce it with visual imagery to make sure a women fulfils her ‘physical duty’ is evidence of the power men hold over women and their bodies despite their lack of knowledge on the female biology.

Figure 8: ‘Primavera’ painted by Sandro Botticelli (c.1445-1510)

But of course, this was true of the Renaissance Era. The development of scientific knowledge around the female biology has of course educated the male population and allowed for widespread acceptance of this monthly occurrence. However, that being said, this has not demolished the stigma around women speaking about having their menstrual cycle. So much so that up until recently, Libresse, a UK-based menstrual hygiene brand produced a campaign for Bodyform pads that showed a red liquid instead of the more widely accepted blue liquid to showcase the products absorbent properties. It is far more accepted of commercials for sanitary products to use a clinical blue liquid to represent menstrual blood. This was because menstrual blood is viewed as a ‘waste’ product, similar to that of urine and faeces which could not be shown on live television as it was an obscenity, whereas the blue liquid has connotations with cleaning products and emphasises ‘the sense of cleanliness and hygiene’ (J. R. Thorpe, 2017). Additionally, despite campaigns, protests and petitions, sanitary products such as tampons are still politically identified as a luxury, non-essential product in the UK, i.e. products that are optional, and are still sold with a 5% VAT charge therefore making an essentially biologically necessary product more expensive and harder to obtain especially for women with low-income backgrounds. Contemporary female artists such as Judy Chicago and Cate Elwes attempted to destroy the taboo around sanitary products and menstrual cycles through their art. Chicago’s ‘Red Flag’ (1971) (see figure 10) utilises the powerful imagery of a used tampon being pulled out of female genitalia to depict a fundamentally normal act for the female species presented to a wider audience. Comparatively, Cate Elwes’ three-day performance piece titled ‘Menstruation II’ (1979) (see figure 11) at the Slade School of Art which coincided with her own menstrual cycle, in which she enclosed herself in a glass-fronted box dressed completely in white as she bled without sanitary products, while also answering questions on the walls and windows of the box about menstruation. She efficiently utilises performance to confront the ‘cultural non-existence of menstruation’ and attempts to tackle it as a ‘source of shame and an excuse for quite violent repression of women…she argues that the “material” of women’s experience does not work with a masculine structure’ (Parker & Pollock, 1987). Despite their bold attempt to bring normality around the subject of female biology, it is clear that even now the male perspective maintains its hierarchy as periods are still considered a taboo and shameful topic. From the way in which women were depicted and forcibly compacted into a boxed image of either/or in Renaissance art, to the patriarchal mentalities towards the female menstrual cycle, we can begin to get a better understanding of how visual imagery is a significant facet of influence on the gender difference and how it continues to enable the patriarchy even now in current society.

Figure 10: ‘Red flag’ by Judy Chicago (1971)

Figure 11: ‘Menstruation II’ performed by Cate Elwes (1979)

The Madonna: To Mother or Not to Mother

A period of time in the chronology of a woman’s life which is considered to be immensely important is that of becoming a mother. The act of conceiving and carrying a child for nine months to then give birth to said child, and to then devote your life to nurturing and teaching them until they become their own person. Alongside the many depictions of the female form in both contemporary and Renaissance art, the mother is the most common and the most debated depiction due to the contrasting views of whether being a mother is a significant biological duty of the gender difference and on whether or not it is a choice. “Analysing the representation of motherhood therefore means asking first and foremost who has the right to make decisions regarding bodies and desires and who has the right to represent them.” (M. Gioni, 2015). The most prevalent depiction of motherhood in Renaissance art is that of the Madonna, or her more biblical title, the Virgin Mary. As aforementioned, the Virgin Mary was considered a significant role model for women in the Renaissance due to her pious nature. Mary was especially revered for her role as the Mother of Christ. She represented the pinnacle of perfection for a Christian woman as she carried out her biological duty of procreation and the nurturing of the baby Christ without the worldly sin of lust and sexual intercourse. The most conventional and intimate depiction of the Madonna consisted of the ‘galaktotrophousa’ (V. Gorlinski, 2000) in which she is seen nursing the Child as she looks lovingly upon him such as the ‘Madonna Litta’ by Leonardo DaVinci (1452-1519) (see figure 12). The maternal love presented in the Madonna’s facial expression in renaissance pieces such as this was utilised by the Church as a way of connecting to the female population. They attempted to tap into the innate maternal instinct, influencing women into believing their sole purpose in life was to become mothers and by devoting their life to their families and to Christ, they would fulfil their divine purpose in the eyes of God. The Church effectively killed two birds with one stone, giving both religious and societal power to the patriarchal system over the ‘inferior sex’ completely enabling the gender difference. This establishment of gender roles in which society then expected motherhood of women led to other renaissance pieces depicting women as pregnant even when they weren’t. One famous example of this is the Arnolfini Portrait by Jan Van Eyck (1434) (see figure 13). Commissioned as a gift to Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife to commemorate their marriage, and yet the piece depicts his wife as already pregnant. Throughout time, scholars debated on whether or not she actually was pregnant but I think the more important question to ask is what was the significance of depicting the newlywed female as pregnant in the first place? As per custom, marriage portraits for wealthy families were used as an indication to the vast wealth the family has, which can be seen in the ornate furniture, the imported oranges, the Anatolian rug and of course the beautiful fabric of their expensive clothing. But interestingly, the use of visual imagery in relation to child birth is depicted through the carved figurine

Figure 12: ‘Madonna Litto’ painted by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

Figure 13: ‘The Arnolfini Portrait’ painted by Jan Van Eyck (1434)

of St Margaret, the patron saint of childbirth overcoming the dragon of heresy on the bed frame, evidently right beside the female figures’ face as she is depicted holding and ‘pressing the excess fabric to her abdomen where it springs outwards and creates a dome like silhouette’ (Dr. Eagles, 2018). Without outrightly claiming that the female is pregnant, the portrait is a symbol that it is expected of her and that even if she wasn’t, she soon would be. This societal norm that a married woman would then constantly be expected to fall pregnant is evidence of how the female gender has been reduced to a walking incubus and how ‘the ideology of essential motherhood is a key part of how women have been defined as men’s other…women have been cast as natural beings who find happiness not in freely projecting their commitments upon the world but rather following what nature dictates and being mothers as nature prompts them to be.’ (Hengehold & Bauer, 2017)

The visual imagery used by male artists to influence societal expectations of women and enable the gender difference in regards to the role of motherhood is the one facet of art history that has been reclaimed and reinterpreted by female artists. The experience of motherhood is instead used as a direct inspiration for art and depicted and/or documented to portray the reality of motherhood from pregnancy to the child-rearing experience. For many years the work created was ‘an attempt by many women to emancipate themselves from maternity as an unavoidable fact experienced as a biological imprisonment…motherhood became a battleground for violent clashes to establish the boundaries of gender roles.’ (M. Gioni, 2015, pg.15). Works from artists such as Mary Cassatt’s ‘Mother about to wash her sleepy child’ (1880) (see figure 14), Mary Kelly’s ‘Postpartum Document’ (1973-79)(see figure 16) and currently Jenny Saville’s ‘Reproduction Drawing IV’ (2010) (see figure 15) are just a few names that depict the experience of motherhood in their work. While Cassatt’s work has often been criticised of reworking religious compositions of the Madonna and Child, a wider perspective can appreciate her work as a bridge from those renowned religious depictions of motherhood into a more realistic and personal depiction of family life around her. She introduced an unseen depiction of motherhood through her compositions of closeness and menial daily tasks between a mother and child. It is also important to note that the majority of her works depict the relationship between a mother and daughter against the more common mother and son (baby Christ). Comparatively, Mary Kelly’s Post-Partum document consists of a more in-depth review of the mothering experience. This piece consists of six sections of documentation which follows the development of her son from birth to the age of 5. Kelly microscopically analyses her relationship with her son and her developing role as a mother throughout this time period by writing on artefacts associated with child care, for example: his baby clothes and his drawings. In parallel, these pieces are accompanied with detailed analytical texts that look at the psychology of the motherhood experience. (R. Warriner,2016) The multiple female perspectives on pregnancy and motherhood allowed for a broader understanding on the experience, but also helped to influence society into becoming more accepting of choice in regards to choosing to become a mother, with the political development of legal abortion and freely available contraception. However, despite the many steps forward we have made in the last couple of years with female autonomy and reproductive health, it seems the patriarchal society is insistent on maintaining the old ways and reclaiming its power, specifically on the topic of abortion. The UN Working Group identified in 2017 that ‘the politicized religious conservative movement is active in numerous countries to either stop the clock or set it back and is making a concerted effort in countries in many regions to retain or even introduce prohibitions on termination of pregnancy.’ (UNWG,2017) Even now in current society, countries such as the Philippines, Poland, and Sierra Leone are attempting to regain power over women’s autonomy by introducing laws that restrict women from having abortions. This then begs the question. How much has actually changed?

Figure 14: ‘Mother about to wash her sleepy child’ painted by Mary Cassat (1880)

Figure 15: Mary Kelly’s ‘Postpartum Document’ (1973-79)

Figure 16: Jenny Saville’s ‘Reproduction Drawing IV’ (2010)

As time has gone by, humanity has developed and educated themselves on many areas of expertise, women being one of them. But it seems as though the influence and development of visual culture (specifically contemporary art) has not been enough to diminish the power of the patriarchy. It has been used to educate the male perspective but it is also a case of whether the male populous wants to learn and be taught. How comfortable the male half of humanity are in their position of power is enough of a factor in enabling the gender difference, that no matter how much we use visual aids and education to expand their knowledge on the female species, we will never be able to progress as equals as long as men fail to seek equality.

Thank you for reading! This piece of writing is very close to my heart and is also my UAL Painting Degree dissertation! I hope you liked it and feel free to leave a comment down below if you have any questions or if you would like to impart your own knowledge on the subject.