Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

BY RILEY CLARK ILLUSTRTIONS BY ZOE GEISS PHOTOS BY PROVIDED

Women and art have long coexisted in a world dominated by men. For so long, women have been the subject of invasive, assuming, and oversexualized art produced from the male gaze. The objectification of women in all fields is no light offense. From the film industry to the music industry, and even in everyday life, sexism is more real than ever. Young girls are products of a world plagued by male ideals.

Renaissance art, surfacing between the 14th and 16th centuries, hosted many iconic portrayals of the female nude in painting. This shift from gothic artwork to an expression of the human body in sculpture and painting brought forth many famous male artists.

In 1486, Sandra Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus,” an iconic nude, pictured the period’s idealized version of a woman. The long, luscious hair, elegant skin, and large breasts defined this era’s perfect female figure. Being a time of heavily Christian themed art, many regard this radical piece as the birthplace of the expression of sexuality through painting.

This exploitation of women was, as the times allowed, blown off as expressionism rather than estranged men planting their sexual desires on a canvas. Pieces like Titian’s “Venus of Urbino” and Gustave Courbet’s “Le Sommeil” are, to this day, considered ravishing by many. Appreciating the uniquely divine art that is femininity is one thing; however, ignoring artists’ blatant objectification of these women by placing value in the nudity is another.

Nobody ever questions male genitalia in art forms. Most often expressed in sculpture, there is no prominent underlying fetish surrounding the male body in art. Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam,” one of the most famous male nudes, is regarded as a religious piece rather than a nude.

The boundless cultural effect this era had was arguably the founding seed of modernday feminism. Women began actively bringing notice to this gender-rooted issue. In 1985, a group of female artists united over their awe of an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art that showcased 165 artists, including 17 female artists.

The newly formed group of feminists titled themselves the Guerilla Girls and started a movement. With posters, billboards, books, magazines, stickers, and postcards, these women wanted to bring attention to discrimination in art.

Still, nearly 40 years later, the Guerilla Girls challenge the art world. A poster of theirs reads, “Do women have to be naked to get into the Met Museum? – Less than 5% of the artists in the Modern Art sections are women, but 85% of the nudes are female.” This feminist group’s fight sparked a movement encouraging many women around the world to have their voices heard.

People are organizing all-female gallery shows to bring awareness to and celebrate female artists of today’s world. “The Nasty Women Art Show”, “NSFW: Female Gaze”, “Champagne Life”, and “Feminine Product” are just a few shows that boasted female work. Passionate leaders of the feminist movement embrace what being feminine means to them, and part of that is uplifting other women from the retroactive statusquo of the female nude and celebrating this as art, not as a sexual fantasy.

This movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression has a different definition for every person. Being a woman is subject to its definition by anyone but those who feel they have the authority to place restraints on another’s femininity. Although the art world today is still male dominated, the reimagination of the female body in art is one large step toward claiming back femininity.

PHOTO CREDIT: GUERRILLA GIRLS

PHOTO CREDIT: GUERRILLA GIRLS