Art and the Movement
When discussing the Women’s Suffrage Movement in the early
20th century with others the first thing that could come to mind is
images of protest and arrest. What wouldn’t be thought of right away is the
movement’s connection to art history. To understand many motives and actions
taken within the movement it is important to understand the climate of society
these women presently dealt with.
Just as European society’s attention is captured, represented, and influenced by images of art
today, art was just as important or more so in the previous 18th,
19th, and 20thcenturies in capturing the contemporary
ideologies. This said art captures new ideas and old values alike which prolong
as well as substantiate the un-conscious claims of a particular society’s aspect
of many values including gender. Looking at art images of the past throughout
European history a pattern of thought about gender normative can be seen being
established.
In many of these classic influential examples of art is
displayed a gender normative for women and men. One where the dominate class
structure has women seen as passive, private, submissive, modest, and objects to
be obtained and men as privileged, dominate, public, aggressive, and possessors
as a working cultural structure. These cultural views helped separate women from
public rights, such as voting. The Women’s Suffrage Movement of the early
20th century was directly attacking these established gender
ideologies and actively reacted to them throughout their campaign for the vote
and a voice in the public community.
These women adopted beliefs that went
against the main artistic representation of what it is to be essentially women.
The Suffragists claimed the right to the vote and public identity by changing
the ideology of what women can be. That woman could be private and public,
modest and aggressive. In their campaigns these Suffragettes targeted not only
the principle of their contemporary art, but attacked that art itself for being
seen as the ideal. The text on this tab will explain and point out the
ideologies in paintings that the Suffrage movement was fighting, along with
brief history on the art that influence their contemporary painters, and art
created by women that featured different life outlooks that contrast the
messages of the popular art.
When discussing the Women’s Suffrage Movement in the early
20th century with others the first thing that could come to mind is
images of protest and arrest. What wouldn’t be thought of right away is the
movement’s connection to art history. To understand many motives and actions
taken within the movement it is important to understand the climate of society
these women presently dealt with.
Just as European society’s attention is captured, represented, and influenced by images of art
today, art was just as important or more so in the previous 18th,
19th, and 20thcenturies in capturing the contemporary
ideologies. This said art captures new ideas and old values alike which prolong
as well as substantiate the un-conscious claims of a particular society’s aspect
of many values including gender. Looking at art images of the past throughout
European history a pattern of thought about gender normative can be seen being
established.
In many of these classic influential examples of art is
displayed a gender normative for women and men. One where the dominate class
structure has women seen as passive, private, submissive, modest, and objects to
be obtained and men as privileged, dominate, public, aggressive, and possessors
as a working cultural structure. These cultural views helped separate women from
public rights, such as voting. The Women’s Suffrage Movement of the early
20th century was directly attacking these established gender
ideologies and actively reacted to them throughout their campaign for the vote
and a voice in the public community.
These women adopted beliefs that went
against the main artistic representation of what it is to be essentially women.
The Suffragists claimed the right to the vote and public identity by changing
the ideology of what women can be. That woman could be private and public,
modest and aggressive. In their campaigns these Suffragettes targeted not only
the principle of their contemporary art, but attacked that art itself for being
seen as the ideal. The text on this tab will explain and point out the
ideologies in paintings that the Suffrage movement was fighting, along with
brief history on the art that influence their contemporary painters, and art
created by women that featured different life outlooks that contrast the
messages of the popular art.