In the past, society typically looked down on women. They were considered to be somewhat less of people than their male counterparts, according to culture, especially in earlier years. Any action they took to deviate from this standard was met with harsh criticism from the public, frequently even from their female counterparts. Some artists were able to refute this viewpoint through their creations.
The Medusa sculpture
The Medusa sculpture was used by Harriet Hosmer to illustrate how widespread sexual misconduct was in those days. She wished for the respect of sexuality and of women. A young woman named Medusa swears to live a celibate life and devotes her entire being to work (Conrood, 2). She is then violated and raped by Neptune, an act which Athena does not take lightly. She goes on and curses Medusa making her ugly and undesirable. Hosmer used the snakes to remind people of the curse and preserve sexuality.
Zenobia and women empowerment
Hosmer also used Zenobia to portray women empowerment. She was a queen who was known for her intellectual tastes, manly courage, and womanly modesty. Zenobia was supposed to teach women that they could chase their dreams without feeling suppressed by the public.
Elizabeth Catlett and the importance of women
Elizabeth Catlett is famous for her constant support for Mexican and African-American women. She mostly evokes the spiritual and physical essence of her subjects. In her Mother and Child sculpture, she reminds the society the importance of women in the world. People treated women with disrespect especially if they were women of color. Using her sculpture, Catlett reminded people that women were the future of the nation. They give birth to the next generation and nurture the children until they become respectable members of the society. Treating women better and with more respect was going to lead to a better generation in the future since they will not fear to express themselves.
Nude Torso - Encouragement for women to express themselves freely
Her Nude Torso sculpture is one that encourages women to express themselves freely. It represents the beauty of women both physically and spiritually. She uses wood on the sculpture to represent the African American women. She felt that women were a suppressed lot and needed to be appreciated to recognize the beauty they possess both on the inside and outside.
Maya Angelou and the fight against cultural injustice
Maya Angelou expressed her art in the form of poems. In her poem titled Caged Bird, she talks of a bird which is confined in a small cage. Despite being inconvenienced by its surrounding, the bird still manages to sing its songs. She uses the bird as a metaphor to show how black women were oppressed and 'caged' in a way that they were not allowed to live their dreams (James). She encourages women to follow their dreams and use whatever means they have to make it in life. She stresses that even in the darkest of situations, there is still hope for every woman to be whatever they wish to be. The bird sang even in confinement, so they should also start standing up for themselves.
In her poem Phenomenal Woman, she enforces the confidence of women by talking about their femininity. Women had low self-confidence due to constantly being viewed as objects by the people. She talks about how powerful a woman is and how every one of them should be aware of this fact.
The artists managed to change how the society viewed women through their work and constant fight against cultural injustice. They instilled a new kind of thinking in people where the men stopped oppressing the women and started viewing them as equals to them.
Works Cited
Conrood, Camille. Two Images Of Medusa In The Sculpture Of Harriet Hosmer. 1st ed., Carleton College, 2015, https://apps.carleton.edu/ujhs/assets/Camille_Coonrod.pdf.
James, Grace. “Maya Angelou – Phenomenal Woman”. Prezi.Com, 2014, https://prezi.com/uvxfsixma-g7/maya-angelou-phenomenal-woman/.
