Students’ View on Sexuality Carved in Stone
When “Prehistory” Is Not Prehistory
Recently, the Intro to Prehistory class been discussing “Venus figurines”. These Paleolithic statues are unique in that they have shared characteristics across a wide geographic area not seen in later periods. They tend to be somewhat obese, with large stomach, breasts, and butts. Their forearms are long and spindly, and their heads (if they have them) lack detail.
In short, while we have enough detail to identify them as symbolizing women, their lozenge-shape and lack of a definable head make them somewhat unrecognizable to us.
There is are a great deal of theories about the origins of these figures. Some think they are for fertility, and others think they are self-portraits.
Unfortunately, I have had students who see the Venus of Willendorf, as pictured in the title, and think “Paleo Porn”.
I think part of this is underlying modern societal issues, wherein any object depicting a woman without clothing is inevitably thought of as a sexual object. Of course, this perception goes against current research that shows the figurines are representations of women looking down at their body (essentially, they are self-portraits), and the fact that weaving imprints have been found on the carvings that show these figurines were once clothed.
It’s an unfortunately sexist first impression, but it’s indicative of today’s culture. About 15% of the students think the Venus figures are hypersexualized. Part of the problem is that textbooks only print pictures of classic Venus figures; the saftig ones. In reality, there is a continuum of body shapes.
In order to combat the hypersexualized interpretations, I was inspired to introduce images into my instruction featuring other Venus figurines that vary in shape and size, from clear representations to the more abstract. With this, I can show that the breadth of difference between these objects.
Is it fair that the Venus of Willendorf is automatically classified a sexual object? No. But showing the difference between objects, and giving them an individual personality can help stymie that belief, in addition to teaching students about alternatives to what they symbolize.
This post was written by Dr. Richard Adams, a High Altitude Archaeologist at Colorado State University who currently teaches Introduction to Prehistory and North American Archaeology.
