“I am made and remade continually. Different people draw different words from me”- VirginiaWoolf
She is a woman. A person of her own. An allegory. A paragon of her vision. She is a girl once hidden behind the confinement of limitations. A girl residing in words and pages. In her eyes lies eternity, a plenitude of wishes and infinite possibility. Yes, she is a woman.
In this society, significantly dominated by men, a woman always remained under the shadows. Growing up, women were often expected to clean, cook, nurture and so on. But is that just a woman’s life? A life spent on nothing but work, never a thought wasted on her own desires or dreams. What she wishes. This is what is expected. A woman has always been someone’s daughter, wife, mother, etc.…but was she ever considered a person her own? Yet she defies all and emerges to show the world what she is capable of. Of what a woman can truly be.
In the centuries that have passed before us, women have always been seen as nothing but a vessel, an object of display, of attraction. We have seen this in an enormous amount universally yet largely in art, literature, cinema. Several artists haveappearedover the years, with most of the ones widely recognized being male artists. The female artists remained ignored and left unseen, and the ones interested were forbidden to even acquire the material for art till a certain amount of time.The male artists would portray art of women.Most full portraits and a few vulgar, yet they were never questioned for the portrayal of women in art despite its indecency butwere rather praised for their immense skill and talent. If a woman were to capture the same, she would be labelled improper and expelled from society; discarded. This is the hypocritical state of people. Which brings me to the story of one such artist who faced the same. A famous figure in ancient Rome in the 17th century. Artemisia Gentileschi. She was a roman artist known for her mastery in baroque paintings meant to capture the dark shadows. It was the subject of her paintings that made her art stand out at that time, mostly influenced by her own individual experiences. Her art revolved around women who were the central figures of each painting, reflecting her perspectives on the cultural and societal norms that ruled the time. She was a feminist herself, and her journey to her renown fame was a terrible struggle. Growing up with an artist as a father, his name Orazio, was a well-known artist in the city, who would get requests for commissioned art. Artemisia was always fascinated by the display of color and vivid detail. She would constantly see and meet her father’s fellow artist friends frequenting their house, which influenced her enormously. Inspired by the art of Caravaggio (the master of baroque art at the time) and growing up in a household with an artist, she wanted to work on her own art. Her art style was versatile, making it exceptionally unique. The painful truth that became the subject of specific artworks by herwas the immense amount of trauma she experienced at an early age. Her paintings often depicted scenes as a form ofrevenge for her suffering. One such painting was called ‘Judith slaying Holofernes.’ Despite her not fitting into the societal expectations of a woman she gained tremendous respect from other women subjected to similar experiences in their lives,but Artemisia was not the only one experiencing such.
We observe frequently, the low literacy rates among women.Notable improvement has been achieved over the years yet still there lie places around the world that don’t provide such services for education or platforms for women to educate themselves. In regions of poverty and rural areas, where exists a lack of facilities and opportunity is where the literacy rates are the lowest making itdifficult for women to getaccess to necessities. Especially the women who are the sole breadwinnersof their family. A myriad of places would refuse to acceptwomen in jobs, even if she was more qualified than the man. This occurs even in modern world in a multitude of places where men gain higher privilege than women in a variety of instances such as workplace, schools, homes, and in society. Women don’t get accepted for higher positions despite their excellency, experience and skill. This reflects the struggle women face on a regular basis. How long must a woman remain in the shackles of society? Constantly submitting to expectations and norms. That is not a woman. She is so much more than that.
She is a writer. A weaver of words. Words tailored to understand, to reveal, and express the inner clockwork of her mind. She is Virginia Woolf.
An integral figure in the line of female writers and in literature. Her writing and the stories behind it mainly stem from her own experiences. In one of her most famous workscalled ‘Mrs. Dalloway’, she delves deep into the conflicting thoughts that the protagonist Clarissa Dallowaycontends with. The character’s constant conundrums about her own identity, feeling trapped in between her past and future, and during all, the psychological factors that affected the character’s personality have been majorly influenced by the author’s own life. Clarissa questions her identity, sexuality, and morals through the book as she leads a journey of self-understanding and self-discovery. Woolf’s writing, an example of translating feminist thought onto pages in an elusive way, capturing the poignancy of human emotion and nostalgia. It is rather evident; the extent she valued women’s role in the world and how she portrays the standards dominant at the time. Wishing to break the barriers of stereotypical thought and societal expectations, her writing emphasizes the constraints of society put on women and psychological aspects that influence such as well. Her innovative narrative on women, intellectual understanding on their complexity, and exploration of the inner reflections of their lives offers a unique perspective to how women are viewed in this world.
Womanhood’s exploration in cinema and theatre :
In theatre and cinema, there is a wide representation of the issues faced by women ranging from gender inequality, inaccurate representation of women influenced by patriarchal norms and so on. Over the years women have faced multiple challenges in cinema and theatre like lack of roles and opportunity and inclusivity about the kind of roles they are assigned. Historically, women in plays and movies were mostly accepted based on their physical appearances. Beauty standards played an enormous role in shaping the outlook of the world about women.She was meant to be petite, thin, fair skinned and possess certain features to be classified or labelled as beautiful. The world of cinema has expressed their opinions in different narratives that are sometimes inextricable due to the already instilled notions within people, and this results in biased perspectives of society about women and their responsibilities which will always remain.Despite the multifaceted nature of cinema resplendent with vicissitudes, Feminism has been portrayed widely in diverse ways. Multiple actors have emerged and broken the barriers placed through the generations by defying the traditional points of view.
Yes, she is a woman. She is a woman who rose from nothing. A woman who is not held back by life, for life loses to a woman like her.
Womanhood’s representation in modern cinema:
Cinema is something that contributes significantly to the way youth’s minds are molded. Women’scontribution and representation in cinema has grown largely and improved with time.Considering how the recent generations are more aware of surroundings and the social issues faced by women, it has played a massive role in empoweringand discarding the convoluted perspectives of the world on them. Certain movies like ‘Little Women’ directed by Greta Gerwig, originally a book written by Louisa May Alcott is a marvelous movie adaptation that intricately captures and explores nuanced themes and the complexity of the lives of women. Their emotional depth, vulnerabilities, dreams and the experiences; breaking the traditional gender roles usually assigned to them as protagonists and the roles they are exposed to in the mundane world.
Despite what women traditionally face, it can be said that society has become more open minded towards letting women live their lives with equal opportunities and privileges as compared to anyone else. It is safe to say that even with the efforts put forward by people there will always be injustice and disagreement due to already existing opinions that are etched within. Reality can only change if one contributes equivalent efforts towards changing the way one views the world. Change can only occur in the mind of one’s own if he or she is willing.
I would like to conclude by quoting Jane Austen,“There is a stubbornness about me that can never bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”
Bibliography
https://pressbooks.marshall.edu/womenwriters/chapter/feminist-issues-in-theatre/
https://critiquelens.com/spotlight/the-feminist-undertones-in-greta-gerwigs-films/
https://thefeminismproject.com/featured/virginia-woolf-a-pioneer-of-feminist-thought/
