Womanhood: A Spectrum
There is no catch-all answer for questions regarding womanhood, femininity, or the female experience. One would hear a wide range of responses if they were to pose the question, “what does it mean to be a woman?” Each reply to the question at hand, in theory, is dependent on the responder’s age, gender, geographic location, personal experience, and the time period that all of these individual aspects belong to. Often times, art is used as a means of expressing individual perspectives, or challenging collective beliefs regarding life as a woman. We can explore perspectives on womanhood, throughout time and space, using a variety of artworks. The exhibition that we have curated, Womanhood: A Spectrum, compiles artworks from a diverse collection of artists, time periods, mediums, and cultures. We hope that our collection will provide our viewers with a comprehensive overview of what it means to be a woman.
Womanhood: A Spectrum was conceived to be shown at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, as many of the pieces used throughout this exhibition have been pulled from LACMA’s online collection. All artwork in the exhibition contain images of actual women, or symbols that are typically associated with women and/or femininity. The earliest piece that introduces our viewers to the start of the exhibition, dates back to approximately 400–100 BC. Meanwhile, artworks belonging to the 21st century bring the collection to a close. Viewers are able to walk through many different time periods, consequently experiencing the gradual shift in perspectives about women within their respective eras. Similarly, Womanhood: A Spectrum presents a broad range of artists and culture to juxtapose how age, gender, race, and ethnicity influence views of womanhood. The overarching goal of our exhibition is to provide our viewers the opportunity to not only experience the variety of beliefs surrounding, but the origins of these beliefs, as well. Several pieces from our exhibition will be discussed, highlighting key themes we prompt our viewers to think critically about.
“Female Figurine” greets viewers as they first enter the exhibition. Thousands of these small Tlatilco female figures have been excavated from sites in Central Mexico and have been categorized as the “Pretty Ladies” sculptures. Many say that naming these clay-figures. Because of their striking body composition and exaggerated proportions, scholars believe that European beauty standards were imposed onto these figurines assuming this was an expression of the ideal female shape. Meanwhile, the Tlatilco represented the female form using these proportions in order to represent fertility — both human and earthly (Koontz, n.d.). Each and every figure in the “Pretty Ladies” collection share several physical traits: nudity, a pinched waist, wide hips, extended stomach, fancy headdresses, and both hands and feet lacking detail. “Pretty Ladies” are sculpted using harsh lines, creating an almost angular body shape. One could speculate that Tlatilco women may have been viewed as “harsh” within their society due to the artistic representations of them. During these excavations, artistic depictions of men were rare. Therefore, the majority of the figurines discovered were “Pretty Ladies.” The scarcity of men in Tlatilco art suggests that women held a more important role in their ancient society (Koontz, n.d.).
Similar to the Tlatilco people in Central Mexico, Roman artists represented a unique female body image using their sculptures. What sets the Roman depiction of the female body apart from the Tlatilco depiction, is the difference in proportion. “Aphrodite” does not have visually striking proportions. She’s sculpted with softer lines and angles, allowing her to take on a more gentle appearance. Roman women were idealized for having these substantial and fleshy frames. Wide hips, fuller abdomens, and smaller, rounder breasts set the beauty standards for Roman women (Clarke, 1998). Nudity, particularly women’s breasts, were not sexualized, though. The female bosom was purely associated with its ability to nurse infants — speaking to how Roman society revered women for being mothers. With all things considered, the physical attributes highlighted in this sculpture may convey the ideal image a woman must take in order to be a mother — the most respected role for a Roman woman to undertake.
While Tlatilco and Roman art illustrated female body image and what life might have been like for these women (relative to their cultural beliefs) Arthur James Iles captured traditional female adornment practices within the Maori tribe in New Zealand. The pictured woman above displays her traditional and sacred chin tattoo, also known as a “moko.” Receiving a moko, for a Maori woman, officially marks her transition from childhood to womanhood. Not only does the ink represent her Maori identity, the tattoos are said to symbolize a woman’s true inner spirit. Moko’s act as a spiritual guardian emerging from within, to then be displayed on the chin (Duff, 2016). Through Iles’ work, we are allowed an opportunity to look into the female subject instead of merely looking at her; viewers’ eyes are instantly drawn to the woman’s moko. In other words, instead of centering the artwork around the physical aspects of the woman, Iles focuses our attention on what represents the woman’s inner self.
As we move further into the exhibition, we are given the opportunity to see a woman through the eyes of another. Kathe Kollwitz was a German artist that worked to express the effects that war, poverty, and hunger had on the working class (Bittner, 1956). In this particular piece, Kollwitz presents us with an ordinary working-class woman. She uses strategic lines, smudges, and dark colors in order to make her muse appear more worn and tired. The woman’s downcast gaze and distant expression hint at something troublesome; this woman could possibly be mourning something unknown to us. From Kollwitz’s presentation, we can assume this German woman’s life is harsh and demanding in some degree. Kathe Kollwitz creates an experience in which we are forced to speculate about this woman’s possible arduous existence. As viewers, we silently mourn along with her.
As Kollwitz provides our audience with a crucial depiction of womanhood through a woman’s eyes,“Female Trouble,” a 1974 film written and directed by John Waters, introduces our viewers to a much more fluid female experience. Not only was the film that this image is captured from created by a man, the leading lady was biologically male at birth. The film follows the depraved life story of Dawn Davenport, a delinquent young woman. Dawn Davenport is played by Harris Glenn Milstead (or more famously referred to using their stage name: Divine). Later in life, Milstead adopted their female stage-persona, Divine and went on to become a famous american actor and drag queen. They identify with both their birth name and stage name, demonstrating their gender-fluidity (Jay, 1994). We’ve included this still from Waters’ film to highlight a very modern female-experience. The subject’s gender in the still of Waters’ film is somewhat ambiguous. Dawn Davenport (AKA Divine/Harris Glenn Milstead) does not embody the “traditional woman,” but this does not invalidate her experience.
To round out our exhibition, we’ve included Newsha Tavakolian’s photograph from her series “Listen.” The purpose of “Listen” was to give Iranian women voices as the government upholds restrictions on female performance. Iranian women singers are not allowed to perform solo or produce their own CDs due to Islamic regulations in effect since the 1979 revolution. (Tavakolian, 2016). Tavakolian focuses on women issues as a photojournalist and in this image, her subject is prepared to combat the current social issues she’s facing in Iran. As a viewer, we are face to face with an empowered woman. The boxing gloves, paired with her rigid stance, force us to consider her strength needed to face upcoming battles within her country.
Womanhood will never be finite. Each and every life of an individual woman is radically different from one life to the next, yet they are all “correct.”
(Please note: This exhibit was developed for a class project and is not real.)
