While these figures share few commonalities, they are more different than similar. This paper will provide an examination of the similarities and differences of these two figures as well as look into how they provide information about their origin as well as the role of women in the society from which they come. Starting with the earlier figure as a representation of prehistoric art, the Woman of Willendorf provides us with a very striking and specific image of the female figure. The figure is generic in feature but specific in representation. She has small delicate arms resting upon large voluptuous bosoms, her face covered with braided hair, a robust belly and buttocks are featured prominently, with her genitalia framed by her rounded thighs.
Many pieces on the left side of her headdress, eyes and left arm have already crumbled off. However, the lips and nose still remain intact and it’s very detailed features gives the viewer a sense of how much time and effort went into this piece many years ago. From the second look I noticed that the statue of Hatshepsut has feminine facial characteristics, which mean that it was a female, however the statue also had a beard and a headdress typical for a Pharaoh to wear. The statue depicts Hatshepsut kneeling and her legs pressed together with her bottom back resting on her feet, the back straight up with a 90-degree angle, and in each hand holds two spheres like objects that are the size of a softball as she rests them upon her legs. It can be seen that the Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut was carved because there is no space in between the legs and the platform where the statue
What was life like for women in the Paleolithic Period, and why did their social status change afterward? According to some scholars, women in the Paleolithic period had a rather equal status with men. Shortly after the Neolithic period began, though, that status fell and an inequality between the genders came into existence. I love how the book puts it: “The inequalities of gender...decisively shaped the character of the First Civilizations and those that followed.” p.73. In other words, gender inequality played a huge role in the world from thousands of years ago and still today.
The view if a woman’s value in society has changed greatly from the 60’s to mid 80’s. This was highlighted in the different representations of women and their importance in the narrative of two movies; “Dr No” (1962) and “Aliens” (1986). In these time periods there were very different views on gender equality and a woman’s importance. The significance of women in each of the films greatly differs from one another; in Aliens, the protagonist is a strong female and in many ways dominant over the men in the film, however in Dr No, women play very little importance to the narrative and are simply represented as either sex objects or dominated by men in the workforce. These differences reflect the views society had regarding the roles of a women at the times the films were made.
Ancient manuscripts contain no sign of her desire to change the sex – she always kept feminine endings in her writings. However, Hatshepsut tried to solve the paradox of a female pharaoh with the help of her appearance. For example, one of the granite statues represents her wearing a traditional headgear of a king – a nemes and uraeus cobra (Brown, p.4). She also sat in a position typical for pharaohs with her feet wide apart. Later, she started to depict herself clearly as a male.
One may argue that the media has also heavily influenced the concept of the ‘ideal’ body for women. In the 1950's, the widespread idea of an 'ideal' body was an 'hour-glass', or 'fuller' figure. This had much to do with the mainstream influence of a very well known American fashion and beauty icon; Marilyn Monroe. If she did not exisit, one may argue that the media may not have encouraged this new idea about women's bodies. Therefore, it is not always the media who are the main influence for our ideas about ourselves, it has a lot to do with certain people, whether they are movie stars, designers or models etc, who make a name for themselves and put themselves on a platform to voice their opinions and share them with the world; if they achieve global acceptance, the mass opinion will therefore change.
Working with Secondary Sources After reading both articles I came to realize they were both very different. The article titled Roman Women written by Gillian Clark was a more broad approach of explaining the life of a Roman women and it clearly explained point of views. The other article titled the position of Women in the Late Roman Republic Part II was very detailed with a lot of names and I found it difficult to follow and understand what was trying to be expressed. To me the article I found helpful for painting the perfect picture of Ancient Roman women was the article titled “Roman Women”. The “Roman Women” to me was a great article to read for getting a better understanding of what it was actually like to be a woman back in ancient
Introduction Hatshepsut was one of the most prolific builders in ancient Egypt. She commissioned hundreds of construction projects throughout both Upper and Lower Egypt.” Hatshepsut knew she was not the typical Egyptian Ruler, her gender was always an issue for some “ John Ray. In efforts to protect her unusual position as a female ruler, Hatshepsut commissioned the building projects, many in honour of the Gods or past pharaohs who had transcended into being gods upon death. “Many of her projects payed respect to the Gods “ D.Redford She knew that correct worship or the gods, would result in them watching over and protecting the Egyptian Empire and the her from harm. Hatshepsut’s projects reminded her subjects to worship properly.
January 22nd 2015 January 22nd 2015 08 Fall 08 Fall Unit 1: Prehistoric Figurines Marcella Rodriguez ARTH 282 Section 4 Caitlin McDonald Unit 1: Prehistoric Figurines Marcella Rodriguez ARTH 282 Section 4 Caitlin McDonald In prehistoric times in Europe, there are these female figurines in Upper Paleolithic that are seen in many different ways, and these two authors described two of them. The first author was Ruth Tringham and Margaret Conkey, and they both argued that the figurines were made to be this way to represent how the perfect woman is or should be. The second author spoke more so that it was how women viewed themselves and that there’s more significance in that then just how society sees women. I believe that
Throughout history, women have been treated different than men nether less in The Epic of Gilgamesh women play a small but crucial role. In the story, the females characters have pretty much power as the males, and we are introduced to Aruru, Shamhat, the temple prostitute, Siduri, the goddess of wine, Ishtar, and the wife of Utnapishtim. One of the most interesting aspects of the story is that it shows how men were aware of the power of women, and in consequence they tried not to fall for their temptation. In this paper, the women characters of The Epic of Gilgamesh will be analyzed by their power, wisdom, sensuality, and destruction, as a result it will show the viewed and valued of women in the ancient Mesopotamia. In the beginning of the epic, the first female character that appears is Aruru and she is introduce as the goddess of creation.