Reclaiming Womanhood
Women and men are represented in a drastically different way in art. Although women have been creating art for centuries with art dating back to ancient times, women weren’t allowed to study art until the early 20th century. According to an academic article by a woman named Astrid Aspegren who graduated with her Masters of Arts in Visual Culture from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, “women were not allowed to study at the Danish Royal Academy of Art alongside men until 1908, and for a very long time, women were not allowed to be artists”. For centuries, men have dominated the art field, as dominating fields arguably isn’t an uncommon goal for men. Female artists were not only underrepresented and underrespected, but also overpowered by men to such a degree that they struggled to reshape womanhood. Although some may argue that men placed women in the center of their artwork to honor them, the deep analysis of those artworks prevail otherwise. Additionally, when women finally gained agency within the art world and society in general, many female artists began rewriting the construct of women in society through representation in art. In the past, men have pigeonholded women by creating art surrounded around the female body, which suppressed women' s means of representation by placing them in an objectified position. As a result, female artists like Janine Antoni have helped redefine what it is to be a woman in art through performance art, manual labor, visual art, references to the female body, and references to the stereotypes placed on women throughout history.
Dating back to early European oil paintings, women have often been the center of artwork. In European oil paintings specifically, the nude female body is almost always on display for all to see. In these paintings, the male artists illustrate the nude female body as the center of the painting. This illuminates the woman’s body as the subject of the painting rather than highlighting who that subject is as a person. John Berger echos this as he explains the differentiation between being “naked” and being “nude”. In Chapter Three of Berger’s “Ways of Seeing”, he writes, “To be naked is to be oneself. To be nude is to be seen naked by others and yet not recognized for oneself.” Berger conveyed how being naked is completely different from being nude; To be naked is to be oneself, but to be nude is to be seen without clothes on, rather than to be seen as a person with valuable characteristics and accomplishments. Rather than discussing how successful and empathetic those European subjects were, we’re forced to discuss how sculpted and stereotypically beautiful their bodies were due to the way that they are framed within the artwork. These paintings were produced in the early 17th century, meaning that this sexualized and surface-level female identity was established early on in our society. These artists set the precedent for how women are viewed in society today, and ultimately objectified these women by putting their naked bodies on display.
These European oil paintings have negatively affected women’s position in society, and have forced women into a confining box that they’re struggling to escape from. From early European art to much of today’s art, the artists make it clear that being a woman is limiting in nature due to the pressure of the male gaze. Berger agrees with this claim, as he writes that a woman “has to survey everything she is and everything she does because how she appears to others, and ultimately how she appears to men, is of crucial importance for what is normally thought of as the success of her life”. A woman is often considered “successful” if she is attractive and has a male partner. To do so, she must closely watch her actions, reactions, and appearances in order to succeed. As the discussed European oil paintings display, this proposition rings true. As a woman in today’s society, I find myself surveying my actions and analyzing how I present myself on a daily basis. I am constantly imagining how I look to others, and these European artists are part of the reason why this is so normalized in womanhood. It is exhausting to be so aware of myself, and many other women suffer with this due to the established societal pressure that male artists have contributed to. Subsequently, rather than creating art to reestablish their role in society, women were encouraged to submit to these standards with the help of institutions continuing to push the work of male artists.
Women were exempt from creating and publishing art for so long due to their stagnant position in society, as well as the large institutions which have supported male artists. Aspegren writes that according to societal norms, “A woman should spend more time being generally attractive and useful, which would not be possible if she were to spend too much time learning only one skill”. As men in society have previously dictated, the way a woman appears in society is more important than her mastering a singular skill. How she is perceived, how supportive of men she is, and how focused she is on these two things determines her worth. This societal rule is something that was instilled by men, and it is often supported by institutions. When institutions in power continue to push similar messages, the general public will adhere to these suggestions as it helps people feel accepted. Aspegren claims, “When galleries and museums continue to represent men, art made by men will continue to be considered more qualified and relevant than art made by women”. When one questions why women didn’t just begin creating artwork to combat their position in society, this quote clarifies this; even if women were to have created artwork to help rework their societal role, the fact that museums and other institutions were so heavily promoting male artists causes the general public to solely support art created by men. When thinking about how humans strive to feel like they belong, we are able to further understand why we are so inclined to follow what these powerful institutions are pushing. However, as soon as the Feminist Art Movement began to take over the art world, women finally gained the agency to reinvent themselves as a group.
The Feminist Art Movement allowed female artists like Janine Antoni to represent females in a way that they chose rather than following societal expectations. The plethora of civil rights movements, protests, and wars in the 1960s sparked political and social change that was necessary for many. A cultivated online art gallery claims that “Arguably, Linda’s Nochlin’s essay Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? sparked a fundamental shift in 1971. The text criticised the social, cultural and economic circumstances prohibiting women from achieving the same state and rank as their male counterparts”. Throughout feminist research, this article comes up more than once as it was not only revolutionary for its time, but it argued a very enticing point. With the help of Nochlin’s essay and the Feminist Art Movement of the 1960’s, female artists were finally being seen and heard by audiences around the globe. Specifically, female artist Janine Antoni became prevalent after the Feminist Art Movement as her art mirrored that of the 70’s. One of her earliest pieces from 1993 is one of her most well known works to this day, and it is titled Lick and Lather.
In Lick and Lather, Antoni questions the definition of classical beauty and effort through her fourteen sculptures. She created a mold of herself from the shoulders up, and proceeded to craft seven chocolate models by licking the chocolate to create chocolate statues, and seven soap models by washing the soap to create soap statues. According to her website, “The work begs the question: are we most ourselves at home alone eating dinner or taking a bath?”. This work doesn’t display women in a sexualized fashion, but rather, places them in their daily routine as a way of representing women as simple creatures that are not much different from men. Women bathe and eat just like men do, and yet, women are often sexualized to a point in which imagining a woman being herself is no longer plausible. Women are most themselves when they are performing mundane tasks, as we are just as simple as men are. By creating these sculptures and placing ourselves in Antoni’s shoes, it's clear that this piece questions classical beauty through introducing the nuances and simplicities of womanhood.
Additionally, another one of her famous pieces from 1993 allows her to claim the space as a woman performing a mundane task to rewrite the history of femininity. In her piece titled Loving Care, Antoni dips her hair in a bucket of paint, and proceeds to mop the floor with her hair. In an interview, the artist recalls how empowered her mother felt when asking her to leave the room so that she could mop, and she hoped to recreate that feeling within the space. She claims the space as she leaves her markings on the floor. Mopping is a common chore that female housewives often perform. Antoni highlights this chore and changes our perspective on it by reclaiming the space throughout her performance. Performance art specifically is something that has truly allowed women to rewrite their story as a gender.
As a woman in art, dancing has truly allowed me to represent my femininity and agency through performance. Growing up in competition dance, the dances that had male dancers often placed better than the dances without. My family used to call it “penis points”, as the dances with boys consequently gained more recognition. However, as I began to build on my training, artistry, historical relationship with dance and ballet specifically, I feel much more empowered as a woman. Women often have more open hips and more flexible feet than men, and that is one of my strengths. Additionally, my ability to appreciate the historical value of ballet and how ballerinas like Marie Taglioni and Anna Pavlova have paved the way for present-day ballet (and dance in general) through their agency and ability to embed their emotions into their work. Although women are considered sensitive and overly emotional, dance has allowed me to see my emotions as a strength. Many are closed off with their emotions and keep them to themselves, but I’m able to express those emotions on stage in front of hundreds of people. This vulnerability is a strength, and allows me to express my agency and femininity as a woman in a way that’s empowering and hopefully inspires others to do the same.
Ultimately, art has allowed women to express their agency and redefine femininity and society’s perception of women in general. As women, we are watched and analyzed by both men and women. As a woman myself, the desire for beauty often feels so dire that it feels silly to not always be striving for it. In spite of this, sometimes the ugly, emotional, and meaningful parts of ourselves are the most important. Janine Antoni grew up in the Bahamas and there weren’t any art museums there, but she says grew up making sandcastles and arts and crafts. Her father being a plastic surgeon, the idea of something being “aesthetically appealing” was very prevalent in her life. It wasn’t until graduate school that she realized that art can “actually mean things” rather than its entire goal being beauty. Similarly, I grew up a ballerina and competition dancer whose entire goal was perfection. It hasn’t been until recently that I’ve realized that perfection isn’t the goal. The real goal is to make people feel something, and to be vulnerable in a way that’s inspiring. With the help of other females around the world, we are able to reshape what it is to be a woman. By understanding why we are confined by society into this box of beauty and observation, we can utilize our agency through art to continue to push the boundaries of womanhood. Femininity isn’t defined by our beauty and appearance, but rather, femininity is our ability to take space and the emotions that we possess through our mundane everyday actions.
Works Cited
“A Guide to the Feminist Art Movement’s History & Contemporary Impact.” Rise Art, Rise Art, 7 Jan. 2021, www.riseart.com/guide/2418/guide-to-the-feminist-art-movement?srsltid=AfmBOopTiqgr1MKYrm1PjZaX7_YMC63mzXRV6bxPcKaMNfutKCp7uLak.
Aspegren, Astrid. “Representation Of Women In Art Museums: How Can We Improve Gender Balance In Exhibition Practice?”. Published by Astrid Aspegren. 2019.
Berger, John. Chapter “3”, Ways of Seeing. Penguin Classics, 2008.
“Lick and Lather.” Janine Antoni, www.janineantoni.net/lick-and-lather/. Accessed 4 June 2025.
“2013 Distinguished Artists' Interview with Janine Antoni (FULL INTERVIEW) | CAA”. YoutTube, uploaded by CAA, 12 August 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUoAO9C2yxQ.
