Gender perspectives: implementation of sociological methodology to Old Testament’s images of the 17th century
Irene BARRENO GARCÍA
Original title: Las perspectivas del género: aplicación de la metodología sociológica a imágenes veterotestamentarias del siglo XVII
Published in
Keywords: Baroque art, Collective imagery, Gender, Misogyny, Religion.
The collective religious and artistic imagery of the seventeenth century is a fundamental point of study at the sociological level, since it shows thoughts and models that governed life in community of the time. For this reason, a study of these images is proposed in this paper with the aim of defending the following thesis: it is possible, with the tools provided by the main historians of art of the sociological school (such as Antal, Francastel, Hadjinicolaou or Hauser), argue that the use of one type or another of images of biblical women (positive or negative) may vary according to gender, understood as a social construct, of the subject performing the representation. In this way, works made by female and male painters will be contrasted on the basis of thematic blocks: Judith beheading Holofernes, Susana and the Elders, Jael and Sisera and Samson and Delilah. Each of the themes, as you can see, presents a conflicting episode that has as protagonists a duo formed by a man and a woman. In this way the opposing positions between the two genders will be much more evident, depending on the hand of the painter.
Medieval Misogyny and its echoes in the Lais of Marie de France
Ruy de Oliveira ANDRADE FILHO, Ligia Cristina CARVALHO
Original title: A misoginia medieval e seus ecos nos Lais de Maria de França
Published in Mulier aut Femina. Idealism or reality of women in the Middle Ages
Keywords: Chivalric literature, Female images, Maria of France, Misogyny.
The Lais of Marie de France are a specific type of historical record about the medieval aristocratic society and enables us to decipher the hierarchies that govern the relationship between men and women in the period. As well explains Georges Duby, medieval society tends to present coated with a male character because, among other factors, its latent misogyny. Women were placed under male authority, convinced of their natural superiority , the men despised , mocked her sex , meanwhile feared them, after all, women were Eve’s daughters. So, Lais offer female images that cannot be ignored , since it express the author women’s idea. However , as we seek to demonstrate in this article, Maria of France reflects the representations of the Christian society aristocratic. One note here that this article does not aspire to reach the actual circumstances, but the historical significance of female images present in the Lais.
Misogyny and sanctity in the Late Middle Ages: the three female models in the Book of Wonders (1289) of Ramon Llull
Eliane Ventorim
Original title: Misoginia e Santidade na Baixa Idade Média: os três modelos femininos no Livro das Maravilhas (1289) de Ramon Llull
Published in Ramon Llull (1232-1316): the cooperation among different cultures and the inter-religious dialogue
Keywords: Holiness, Misogyny, Ramon Llull, Woman.
Misogyny and theologizing rhetoric of feminine appearance in the Middle Ages: the ascetic testimony of De cultu feminarum by Tertullian
Pedro Carlos Louzada FONSECA
Original title: Misoginia e retórica teologizadora da aparência feminina na Idade Média: o depoimento ascético do De cultu feminarum, de Tertuliano
Published in Mulier aut Femina. Idealism or reality of women in the Middle Ages
Keywords: Female appearance, Misogyny, Patristic, Tertullian.
The concern of the early centuries of Christianity about the appearance of women is a recurring theme in the so-called patristic literature, whose doctrine was based on a vision of theological and patriarchal jurisdiction committed to certain postures and attitudes tendentiously misogynistic that had seen the woman as prone ab origine to disguise and adulteration of her image created by God. In this primeval Christian perception of the female, Tertullian (c. 160-c. 225) stands out as an author of a moralist discourse strongly religious which submits female clothing and ornaments to precepts and prescriptions theologically constituted. This article proposes to discuss the main aspects of the rhetoric of this theological cosmetology which characterizes itself as ascetically misogynist in Tertullian.
The beginning of the path to equality: a comparison of medieval male and female texts about women in the Middle Ages
Sheila ADÁN LLEDÍN
Original title: El principio del camino a la igualdad: Una comparativa de textos medievales femeninos y masculinos sobre la mujer en la Edad Media
Published in Mirabilia Journal 31 (2020/2)
Keywords: Comparison, Female, Male, Middle Ages, Misogyny, Writing.
We are used to read medieval texts created by men, but there were not only male’s quills. There were also many documents written by women that have not been discussed so far, where they stand up for other women, speaking of their selves, their circumstances, their lives, their feelings, their sex’s conception, and their opinions, despite the prohibitions and impediments that were imposed to them. This is what this article aims to show: inspirational testimonies that stand for progress, change, fight, and equality. A comparison between what men in the Middle Ages wrote about women, and what women at that time wrote about women.
Women artists in the Middle Ages: constantly self-represented, consciously ignored
Sheila ADÁN LLEDÍN
Original title: Artistas en la Edad Media: constantemente autorrepresentadas, conscientemente ignoradas
Published in Mirabilia Journal 34
Keywords: Artist, Illuminating, Middle Ages, Misogyny, Sculptress, Woman.
Women in the medieval society were taught good manners in taking care of their homes, their children, pregnancy, or marriage. However, not a few of them made it to get rid of it and become writers, mystics, medics, doctors, sculptors, painters, powerful queens, and even crusaders and war soldiers. Despite many of them being silenced, many others left the anonymity behind. Courageous women who never meant to be forgotten and will be remembered in this work. It’s key to consider that due to the patriarchal system, as well as the medieval misogyny, only a few women were able to study and learn to read and write. The ones who succeeded belonged to wealthy families with high social standards, or to the Church, like the abbesses. The Renaissance will bring more women testimonies, signatures, and self-portraits. However, there are many relevant female artists before this period, and this work will focus on them. The article goes through the different Middle Ages artistic periods: from the Early (5th-10th century) to the High (11th-13th century) and finally the Late Middle Ages (14th-15th century).
