Medieval Artists Women

The data available to us on the lives of medieval women artists depends first on the easy fact of the existence and importance of women artists who had been largely ignored by the decidedly masculine voice of earlier art-historical. Secondly, the seeming anonymity of women as artists in the middle Ages derives in part from medieval artists which commonly were unconcerned with the specific personalities of individual artists. What we have available to us today consists of medieval women in the visual arts. Such talents merit consideration as part of a continuing history, whose many informational gaps are gradually being filled.

Citation: ARTISTS, MEDIEVAL WOMEN. (2004). In Women in the Middle Ages: An Encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/abcwma/artists_medieval_women

Image citation: Thamar (Timarete) painting her picture of Diana, c.1400-1425. © The British Library/Topham-HIP/The Image Works.

Women's movement

Many campaign’s where held for the rights and liberation of women, including social, political and economic equality with men. Early campaigners of the 17th-19th centuries fought for women's rights to own property, to have access to higher education, and to vote. The suffragists campaigned for women's voting rights; in the UK they formed two groups, the suffragists, who followed reform by purely peaceful means, and the suffragettes, who were willing to take aggressive action. Once women’s right to vote was achieved in the 20th century, the importance of the movement shifted to the goals of equal social and economic opportunities for women, including employment.

Citation:  Women's movement. (2009). In The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather guide. Retrieved from  http://www.credoreference.com/entry/heliconhe/women_s_movement

Image retrieved from: http://reelcontent.org/projects

Women and science

The ancient sources provide only limited information about the role of women in science. But one of the important figures was Aspasia, the cohort of Pericles. Aspasia was from Miletus, a leading center of science. She was probably associated with “Anaximander and Archelaus, Pericles and Socrates teachers respectively”. A hetaera, one of the elegant, immoral companions of the rich and famous of Athens, she was Pericles attendant for many years, holding forth in salon fashion among the intellectual elite of mid-fifth-century Athens. She supposedly opened a school of philosophy, having not only well-born women but some of Athens most important men as her students.

Citation: Women and Science. (2004). In Science in the Ancient World: An Encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/abcsciaw/women_and_science

Image Citation: The Athenian patroness of science and consort of Pericles, Aspasia (fifth century BCE). From G. Staal and F. Holl, New York: D. Appleton & Co., between 1860 and 1888.

(Library of Congress)

 

Women’s rights in Islamic World

In the developing world, many rights already obtained in the West are still lacking in the East. The impact of Islamic political movements, supported by traditional women, has been quite contrary to trends in the Western world. In extreme cases such as the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, with its restrictions on women's social and educational opportunities, it is reasonable to talk of the planned domination of women. In contrast, the very different Islam of Indonesia has shared in the generally liberated role of women in the rest of South-East Asia. However, the rights of women to control their own lives often remain an ambition rather than a fact.

Citation: Women's Rights. (2005). In Chambers Dictionary of World History. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/chambdictwh/women_s_rights

Image Citation: http://www.articleinspector.com/articles/74/1/Tehran-Cracks-Down-on-Feminist-Movement/Page1.html

Cultural prejudices against women

It is so obvious that women have played smaller roles than men in the development of science…The clearest reason, is that prejudice against women excluded many of them from participating and interacting in the scientific profession and discouraged their training in scientific disciplines. Cultural prejudices against women, whether related to science or drawn from society at large, informed the attitudes of many leading scientists. However, in the early twentieth century, some strides were made in including women in scientific positions. Finally, even though historians tend to argue about the positive and negative consequences of such inclusion, women should always defend their rights and never give up!!

Citation:  Women. (2005). In Science in the Early Twentieth Century: An Encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/abcscieth/women
Image Citation: Women at work. October 15 2008. Graphic retrieved from http://www.saugeentimes.com/Pictures/Museum/Women%20at%20work%20in%20WWII%20Picture%20of%20a%20woman%20on%20an%20aircraft.jpg