The body is a highly debated topic in both feminism and society at large. Our bodies are the sites of self identification and understanding as well as form our experience of how we interact with the rest of the world. The female body in art has been a studied figure for centuries, however, the understanding and representation of the female body has transformed throughout time. The female body has also become degraded and devalued and images of the female form have become taboo in society. A certain degree of self-loathing for one’s body has also increased over time with eating disorders and body image issues rising.
Louise Bourgeois, Femme Couteau
Beginning in the 1970s (as with most feminist art movements and trends), the body became a place for self exploration and enjoyment. Feminist artists of the time began to affirm “not only the authenticity of their own experiences that informed their art, but also the beauty and sexual and spiritual power of the female body as correctives to idealizations…” (Frueh, 190). With the sexual revolution of the 1960s and the widespread use of the pill, women began to explore their bodies and their own sexual pleasure. These experiences came out in images and art created during the period in a positive form. Previously, the female form was idealized and a myth in artwork that worked against women as an impossible image to live up to.
Alice Neel, margaret evans pregnant
Today’s popular media constantly influences us with the ‘ideal’ body size. This constant reminder to fit into hegemonic beauty standards influences women’s understanding of their own body and their own personal worth. Women are expected to conform to these beauty standards, “Just as the Classical Greek nude occludes women’s bodies in this kind of aesthetically rigid form, so the socially correct beautiful body disciplines—and punishes—women, through frustration, guilt, anxiety, and competitiveness with other women” (Frueh, 195). Furthermore, by depicting the female form in its most natural state, artists were challenging patriarchal norms, as “’real’ female bodies were taboo within patriarchy, so it was left to [artists] to create works critiquing and challenging society’s homogenized dictates” (Frueh, 194).
Through the work of feminist artist’s focus on the female body form, a more positive and accepting image appeared in art. The female body became the site of positive spiritual presence, erotic powers, and sexual appetite. Some feminist artists even looked to the goddess as a site of inspiration for independence and power as the “’Goddess symbol for women is the affirmation of the female body’” (Frueh, 201). The Goddess also symbolizes “the female body [as] a heroic status that resonates with political, sexual, and soul-inseparable-from-the-body presence” (Frueh, 201).
Body image has always been a difficult topic for many of the women I know in my life, including myself. With images in advertising and media of the ‘perfect’ body, it is difficult to look at your own body with a sense of aesthetic beauty. In a patriarchal society, where the female body is in some way inadequate and incomplete, low self esteem is not something that should come as a surprise to any of us. However, with feminist art portraying the female body not only in more accurate forms, but also positive forms, it gives power back to the female form and women who experience these art pieces.
Frueh, Joanna. "The Body Through Women’s Eyes." The Power of Feminist Art. Ed. . Norma Broude and Mary D. Garrard. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc, 1993. Print.
Images from:
http://previousexhibitions.fondationbeyeler.ch/e/html_11sonderaus/27eros21/02_bild_bourgeois_07.htm
http://altogether-elsewhere.blogspot.com/2009/03/alice-neel.html
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