1. Art & Gender
CHAPTER 4.10

2. Art & Gender
 Sex identifies a person as biologically male or
female.
 Gender is the inner identity and is hard to
condense into 2 different categories, typically
under feminine or masculine.
 Difficult to determine if gender is biologically or
culturally derived, or possibly even both.

3. Gendered Roles
Natali Tuttle

4. Gender Roles in Art Through History
 Males have been consistently portrayed
as
kings, soldiers, royalty, peasants, hunters, p
riests, artists, musicians, etc.
 Never seen doing any feminine activities.
 Overwhelmingly extremely
masculine, whether in a position of
leadership or strong, dominant male.

5. Gender Roles in Art Through History
 Females have mostly been very narrowly
represented in the history of art.
 Mainly portrayed as religious
figures, mistresses, mothers or sources of
temptations. (O’Kelly)

6. Gender Roles in Art Through History
 Gradually as culture, morals and religions
changed, so did the representations and
availabilities of women in art. Woman
slowly gained more roles in compositions.
 Men has remained fairly consistent
throughout history.
 The base frame of these representations
still exist in the modern day art.

7. Self-Portrait Sideways No. 3, John Coplans
 Photography, Gelatin
Silver Print
 2001
 Challenges the traditional
male nudes
 Traditional:
tall, sculpture, toned,
strong
 Coplans:
hunched, escaping, n
on-ideal body
 He brings a striking reality
of the aging body

8. Untitled Film Still #35, Cindy Sherman
 Black and white photograph
 1979
 Appears to be a self portrait of
some sort, but the artist
recreated characters from
nonexistent 1950s B-movies
where women were always
stereotypically represented as
housewives, starlet, country girl,
going to the city, etc.

9. Feminist Critique
Rachel Barraza

10. Feminist Critique
 Women had fewer opportunities than
men to become artists
 Language associated with a gender bias
 Not many people noticed that women
had been excluded from institutions
 The feminist movement of the 1960's and
1970's

11. The Dinner Party – Judy Chicago
1974-9
Sculpture
Honors women from the past
and present
Triangular dinner table
Place settings
Georgia O'Keeffe

12. Judith Decapitating Holofernes
Artemisia Gentileschi
1620
Oil on canvas
Reinterpretation of a
Caravaggio
Story from the Bible
Events in Gentileschi's
own Life

13. Blurring the Lines:
Ambiguous Genders
Alisha Moss

14. Blurring the Lines: Ambiguous Genders
 Most cultures have clear roles for males
and females
 Not everyone fits into the traditional roles
 As public awareness of ambiguous
genders increases our art reflects it.

15. Blurring the Lines: Ambiguous Genders
 Gender roles have become a hot topic
recently but its not exactly a new subject
for art
 A twist in traditional gender roles in
Egyptian art.
 Today blurred gender can be found
nearly everywhere.

16. Hermaphroditus
 Unknown artist, Lady Lever
Art Gallery in England.
 The nymph Salmacis loved
Hermaphroditus
 We see both male and
female characteristics
 Over all feminine look but
awkward male features

17. Hermaphrodite with a Dog
 Diane Arbus, gelatin silver
print - 1968
 Is this a male or female?
 Feminine costume, make
up and clean shaven right
side
 Wristwatch, masculine
tattoo and unshaved left
side
 No clear gender identity

18. “
”
Thank you!
ART AND GENDER
CHAPTER 4.10
Natali Tuttle
Rachel Barraza
Alisha Moss