Eunice D. Sta.

Agueda
DSMA7

FSTHEOR
W | 6:00-9:00 PM

Female Artists in Society Then and Now

In the past, women were severely and utterly discriminated. Nobody even acknowledged
female artists. Their achievements were belittled and ignored. They were the pawns of men.
Their only role in society was to bear children and be obedient, submissive, prim and proper
housewives who live to serve their husbands, like a slave to a master. And if they objected,
complained, or did anything that would ever so slightly offend a man, they would be punished,
persecuted, or ridiculed, even by other women. Just like what happened in the movie when
Camille made a sculpture that Rodin didn't like. He didnt let her make art that made him look
bad in any way.
Patriarchy teaches that men are superior. It wasn't until feminism was invented that
women were allowed to vote and live their own lives. Today, women are more free compared to
before, though there are still a lot of holes in our society, whether or not were aware of it. Some
areas havent changed over the years -- rape culture still exists and harassment or any kind of
unwanted sexual advances towards women are considered to be in men's nature, so it
becomes an accepted norm. If a woman were to be sexually harassed, no matter they did to
refuse or restrain, they the victims of the assault would still blamed for what was done to
them and then told that they were asking for it. Its like their bodies didn't even belong to them.
Everything about them belonged to the males, and they couldn't do anything about it.
Even men are affected negatively because they're expected to be tough. If they did
anything that's associated with femininity, they would be called 'weak' or 'unmanly', because
society thinks its degrading to be feminine. So if a woman were to be like a man, it's supposed
to be a compliment, but if a man were to be like a woman, it's an insult. In the movie, Camille
was able to have a whole exhibit all to herself, full of only her own works. But the compliment
she got was, She has the talent of a man. This suggests that being talented is specifically a
masculine trait. But thats not true.
In fact, there had always been great female artists all around the world only that they
werent given the recognition they deserved. If anything, the value of their art was worth much

less, like a mere fraction of that of the males, regardless of the quality of the output. Also, men
had better job opportunities and were paid more than women for the same job. This is because
men were thought to be more capable of doing any sort of work that doesnt involve staying at
home cooking, cleaning, and taking care of children. Thats considered to be a woman's job,
and a lot of women were molded to think that too.
But of course, there were strong women too, and one of them was Camille. Shes her
own person and she knew that, just like men, shes also a human being with a mind of her own
who deserved to be treated with respect.