Subverting the Patriarchy: Artistic Manipulations of the Female Trope in Weimar Germany
Session Title
Women's and Gender Studies
College
College of Visual and Performing Arts
Department
Fine Arts
Abstract
Gendered social anxieties prevailed during the Weimar Republic as women gained the right to vote. With the rapid departure of men from Germany at the onset of World War I, women were thrust into the public sphere to fulfill necessary labor roles. This cross-over from the domestic to the public sphere incited anxiety in the male population, who felt a loss of control and dominance in an otherwise patriarchal society. In reaction to this fear, men began to both physically and societally exert their dominance over women through the science-based process of classification. By breaking the collective idea of women down into categories, men created a distinction between their idea of a woman and all those who deviated from it. The avant-garde male artists were especially influential in German society, as they visually depicted the gendered changes around them. By depicting women as subjects of these classifications, they effectively reinforced these classifications and created concrete tropes. The four main tropes that this research will address are the Neue Frau, the Garçonne, the Prostituierte, and the Mutter. In looking closely at these classifications, this research intends to reveal the flawed misconceptions of female autonomy and sexuality by visually comparing male and female artistic renderings of women in the Weimar Republic. Through more intimate and sympathetic renderings of female subjects, women artists utilized stereotypical female classifications as a way to subvert the male-created trope, painting a more complex and authentic picture of female sexuality and autonomy in the Weimar Republic.
Honors Thesis Committee
Karen Stock, Ph.D.; Michael Lipscomb, Ph.D.; and Jennifer Disney, Ph.D.
Start Date
24-4-2020 12:00 AM
Subverting the Patriarchy: Artistic Manipulations of the Female Trope in Weimar Germany
Gendered social anxieties prevailed during the Weimar Republic as women gained the right to vote. With the rapid departure of men from Germany at the onset of World War I, women were thrust into the public sphere to fulfill necessary labor roles. This cross-over from the domestic to the public sphere incited anxiety in the male population, who felt a loss of control and dominance in an otherwise patriarchal society. In reaction to this fear, men began to both physically and societally exert their dominance over women through the science-based process of classification. By breaking the collective idea of women down into categories, men created a distinction between their idea of a woman and all those who deviated from it. The avant-garde male artists were especially influential in German society, as they visually depicted the gendered changes around them. By depicting women as subjects of these classifications, they effectively reinforced these classifications and created concrete tropes. The four main tropes that this research will address are the Neue Frau, the Garçonne, the Prostituierte, and the Mutter. In looking closely at these classifications, this research intends to reveal the flawed misconceptions of female autonomy and sexuality by visually comparing male and female artistic renderings of women in the Weimar Republic. Through more intimate and sympathetic renderings of female subjects, women artists utilized stereotypical female classifications as a way to subvert the male-created trope, painting a more complex and authentic picture of female sexuality and autonomy in the Weimar Republic.
