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The Role of Women in Painting: Unveiling Gender Inequity in Art

Received: 7 May 2023    Accepted: 25 May 2023    Published: 31 July 2023
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Abstract

Women have been seen through the lens of art from the very commencement of civilization. Beauty itself was personified in the form of a woman. An effort is being made to analyse various shades that have been concatenated with her image over the period. Women have been an important part of society. She has played many important roles like homemaker, mother, wife, and at times lover. Women have equally participated in many activities like paintings but never got the recognition that they deserve. The popular paintings of Ajanta paintings have also shown females as highlighting the fertility part in their ample curves. This movement is further explained in the Mauryan and Buddhist periods, where they represented women as the Yogini. Also, in Khajuraho sculptures, women are revealed as Apsaras and Surasundaris who are involved in various activities. Here female nudity has been regarded as a powerful fertility charm. Artists in Rajasthani miniature painting often represented moods (bhava) through a female character known as the Leading lady (nayika). In his paintings, Raja Ravi Verma described the divine aspect of ladies. Amrita Shergil, India's most recognized female artist, also created feminist works. M. F. Hussain's favourite topics were likewise ladies. The representation of women in this situation is cynosure. Women's socioeconomic standing has been mirrored by Indian artists throughout history. However, women in India in the twenty-first century have numerous challenges, and their social standing is rapidly changing. Women in India are now seen not only as nurturers and mothers but also in a variety of important jobs in society. This paper analyses how contemporaries interact in this study.

Published in English Language, Literature & Culture (Volume 8, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.12
Page(s) 39-43
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Feminism, Indian Art, Paintings, Gender, Naming, Patriarchy

References
[1] “Guerrilla Girls.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/topic/Guerrilla-Girls
[2] Beauvoir, Simone de. “Introduction: Second Sex.” The New York Times, 30 May 2010, www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/books/excerpt-introduction-second-sex.html.
[3] CHATTERJEE, SUSHMITA. “What Does It Mean to Be a Postcolonial Feminist? The Artwork of Mithu Sen.” Hypatia, vol. 31, no. 1, 2016, pp. 22–40. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44076452.
[4] "The Feminine Mystique." Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., last modified 14 May 2021, www.britannica.com/topic/The-Feminine-Mystique.
[5] Poppy, CD. "The Representation of Women in Art Throughout History." PoppyCD.Art, n.d., https://www.poppycd.art/the-representation-of-women-in-art-throughout-history/.
[6] Meyer, Laura. "Power and Pleasure: Feminist Art Practice and Theory in the United States and Britain." Power and Pleasure: Feminist Art Practice and Theory in the United States and Britain, edited by Laura Meyer, Publisher, 2023, pp. 317-344.
[7] Indian Art Ideas. “Artistic Contributions of Most Famous Painters of India.” Indian Art Ideas Blog, Indian Art Ideas, 8 December 2022, indianartideas.in/blog/indian-art/artistic-contributions-of-most-famous-painters-of-india.
[8] NCERT. Learning From Experiences: An Anthology of English Stories - Class XI. National Council of Educational Research and Training, 2014. NCERT, ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/lefa107.pdf.
[9] Little, Philippa Susan. “Images of Self: A Study of Feminine and Feminist Subjectivity in the Poetry of Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Margaret Atwood and Adrienne Rich, 1950-1980.” Feminist Studies, vol. 25, no. 2, 2010, pp. 45-60. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/123456789.
[10] Malik-Goure, Archana. “Feminist Philosophical Thought in Colonial India.” Journal of Feminist Studies, vol. 15, no. 2, 2021, pp. 45-60. Feminist Studies Online, www.feministstudiesjournal.org/articles/feminist-philosophical-thought-colonial-india.
[11] Treardon, Patrick. "Book Review: 'Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?' 50th Anniversary Edition by Linda Nochlin." Patrick T. Reardon, 24 September 2021, patricktreardon.com/book-review-why-have-there-been-no-great-women-artists-50th-anniversary-edition-by-linda-nochlin/.
[12] Nochlin, Linda. "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?" Westview Press, 1971.
[13] Ramabach, Pierre. “The Golden Age of Indian Art.” Thomas Y. Crowell, 1955. Tomory, Edith. A History of Fine Arts in India and the West. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan, 2010.
[14] Khan Academy. "Bhimbetka Cave Paintings." Khan Academy, n.d., www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-asia/south-asia/x97ec695a:5000-b-c-e-1000-b-c-e/a/bhimbetka-cave-paintings.
[15] McNay Art Museum. "O'Keeffe and American Modernism." McNay Art Museum, 11 December, 2022, www.mcnayart.org/exhibition/okeeffe-and-american-modernism/.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Sukhpreet Kaur, Manju. (2023). The Role of Women in Painting: Unveiling Gender Inequity in Art. English Language, Literature & Culture, 8(3), 39-43. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.12

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    ACS Style

    Sukhpreet Kaur; Manju. The Role of Women in Painting: Unveiling Gender Inequity in Art. Engl. Lang. Lit. Cult. 2023, 8(3), 39-43. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.12

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    AMA Style

    Sukhpreet Kaur, Manju. The Role of Women in Painting: Unveiling Gender Inequity in Art. Engl Lang Lit Cult. 2023;8(3):39-43. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.12,
      author = {Sukhpreet Kaur and Manju},
      title = {The Role of Women in Painting: Unveiling Gender Inequity in Art},
      journal = {English Language, Literature & Culture},
      volume = {8},
      number = {3},
      pages = {39-43},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20230803.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ellc.20230803.12},
      abstract = {Women have been seen through the lens of art from the very commencement of civilization. Beauty itself was personified in the form of a woman. An effort is being made to analyse various shades that have been concatenated with her image over the period. Women have been an important part of society. She has played many important roles like homemaker, mother, wife, and at times lover. Women have equally participated in many activities like paintings but never got the recognition that they deserve. The popular paintings of Ajanta paintings have also shown females as highlighting the fertility part in their ample curves. This movement is further explained in the Mauryan and Buddhist periods, where they represented women as the Yogini. Also, in Khajuraho sculptures, women are revealed as Apsaras and Surasundaris who are involved in various activities. Here female nudity has been regarded as a powerful fertility charm. Artists in Rajasthani miniature painting often represented moods (bhava) through a female character known as the Leading lady (nayika). In his paintings, Raja Ravi Verma described the divine aspect of ladies. Amrita Shergil, India's most recognized female artist, also created feminist works. M. F. Hussain's favourite topics were likewise ladies. The representation of women in this situation is cynosure. Women's socioeconomic standing has been mirrored by Indian artists throughout history. However, women in India in the twenty-first century have numerous challenges, and their social standing is rapidly changing. Women in India are now seen not only as nurturers and mothers but also in a variety of important jobs in society. This paper analyses how contemporaries interact in this study.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

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    AB  - Women have been seen through the lens of art from the very commencement of civilization. Beauty itself was personified in the form of a woman. An effort is being made to analyse various shades that have been concatenated with her image over the period. Women have been an important part of society. She has played many important roles like homemaker, mother, wife, and at times lover. Women have equally participated in many activities like paintings but never got the recognition that they deserve. The popular paintings of Ajanta paintings have also shown females as highlighting the fertility part in their ample curves. This movement is further explained in the Mauryan and Buddhist periods, where they represented women as the Yogini. Also, in Khajuraho sculptures, women are revealed as Apsaras and Surasundaris who are involved in various activities. Here female nudity has been regarded as a powerful fertility charm. Artists in Rajasthani miniature painting often represented moods (bhava) through a female character known as the Leading lady (nayika). In his paintings, Raja Ravi Verma described the divine aspect of ladies. Amrita Shergil, India's most recognized female artist, also created feminist works. M. F. Hussain's favourite topics were likewise ladies. The representation of women in this situation is cynosure. Women's socioeconomic standing has been mirrored by Indian artists throughout history. However, women in India in the twenty-first century have numerous challenges, and their social standing is rapidly changing. Women in India are now seen not only as nurturers and mothers but also in a variety of important jobs in society. This paper analyses how contemporaries interact in this study.
    VL  - 8
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Author Information
  • University Institute of Liberal Arts and Humanities, Chandigarh University, Gharuan, Mohali (Punjab), India

  • University Institute of Liberal Arts and Humanities, Chandigarh University, Gharuan, Mohali (Punjab), India

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