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Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'
Women in the Picture: What Culture Does with Female Bodies by Catherine McCormack
6 reviews
a_violentfemme's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
2.5
I didn't hate this but overall, I don't think I am the target audience for this book. This book is accessible for those without an experience of art historical arguments- especially feminist ones. But I found these theories all very surface level, predictable and a summary of ideas originally by many other well known feminist art historians.
She splits the book (and depictions of women in art) into 4 sections- Venus, mother's, maidens and monsterous women. She uses some well known and loved case studies e.g Titan's 'Rape of Europa' and Millias' 'Ophelia' and attempts to put these in conversation with contemporary media and pop culture, like Beyonce's 'lemonade' but it all left me a bit cold.
In content this reminded me of Lauren Elkin's art monsters- which I also didn't particularly enjoy (especially all the talk of writing during the pandemic and balancing mothering and writing).
I was waiting for a mention or citation of famouse academics in this field including Lynda Nead, Griselda Pollock or Linda Nochlin and they only got a disappointing acknowledgment at the end.
Give it a go if you are a beginner in art history but maybe skip over it and read 'the female nude' by Lynda Nead instead.
She splits the book (and depictions of women in art) into 4 sections- Venus, mother's, maidens and monsterous women. She uses some well known and loved case studies e.g Titan's 'Rape of Europa' and Millias' 'Ophelia' and attempts to put these in conversation with contemporary media and pop culture, like Beyonce's 'lemonade' but it all left me a bit cold.
In content this reminded me of Lauren Elkin's art monsters- which I also didn't particularly enjoy (especially all the talk of writing during the pandemic and balancing mothering and writing).
I was waiting for a mention or citation of famouse academics in this field including Lynda Nead, Griselda Pollock or Linda Nochlin and they only got a disappointing acknowledgment at the end.
Give it a go if you are a beginner in art history but maybe skip over it and read 'the female nude' by Lynda Nead instead.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape, Sexism, and Sexual violence
jenniferlawrencesgf's review against another edition
informative
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Classism
charlottejones952's review against another edition
challenging
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
hannahmci's review
informative
medium-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
arthistoryforall's review
challenging
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
4.75
(I received an advance reader’s copy of this book from NetGalley and W.W. Norton in exchange for an honest review.)
With Women in the Picture McCormack creates a beautifully written, broad-ranging survey of feminist concerns in Western art history that serves as an entry point to feminist art history for general audiences and enriches enthusiasts’ understanding of the field. McCormack investigates the work of big names--Botticelli, Michelangelo, Morisot, Gentileschi, Ringgold, Beyoncé--as well as that of more niche figures like Mierle Laderman Ukeles and Leonor Fini, to explore four major archetypes of womanhood in art history and visual culture: Venus, the mother, the damsel, and the monstrous woman.
Within this four-archetype structure, McCormack also takes time to specifically address the implications these archetypes have for Black women’s bodies and how they are portrayed, a welcome and necessary element, given art history’s tendency to focus primarily on white, Western images, bodies, and artists. The relationship of the four archetypes to queerness, transness, and non-binary identities is occasionally discussed, but I think the book would have benefited from a little more engagement with this (for example, the “monstrous women” chapter seems like a perfect opportunity to discuss the current cultural tendency to characterize trans women’s bodies as “monstrous” or “deceptive.”) Overall, I’d love to see even more broad-ranging and intersectional analysis in this book, not because there’s any great lack of it, but because I enjoy McCormack’s analysis and want to see how far she can take it and what interesting images she can bring in for discussion.
Women in the Picture is a great addition to art lovers’ personal libraries, with elegant prose and insightful, well-supported analysis, not just of the art historical canon, but of contemporary visual and pop culture. There are some points which may be a little difficult for general readers to penetrate, and possibly some missed opportunities for further analysis, but I’d absolutely recommend this book regardless of one’s art education level
With Women in the Picture McCormack creates a beautifully written, broad-ranging survey of feminist concerns in Western art history that serves as an entry point to feminist art history for general audiences and enriches enthusiasts’ understanding of the field. McCormack investigates the work of big names--Botticelli, Michelangelo, Morisot, Gentileschi, Ringgold, Beyoncé--as well as that of more niche figures like Mierle Laderman Ukeles and Leonor Fini, to explore four major archetypes of womanhood in art history and visual culture: Venus, the mother, the damsel, and the monstrous woman.
Within this four-archetype structure, McCormack also takes time to specifically address the implications these archetypes have for Black women’s bodies and how they are portrayed, a welcome and necessary element, given art history’s tendency to focus primarily on white, Western images, bodies, and artists. The relationship of the four archetypes to queerness, transness, and non-binary identities is occasionally discussed, but I think the book would have benefited from a little more engagement with this (for example, the “monstrous women” chapter seems like a perfect opportunity to discuss the current cultural tendency to characterize trans women’s bodies as “monstrous” or “deceptive.”) Overall, I’d love to see even more broad-ranging and intersectional analysis in this book, not because there’s any great lack of it, but because I enjoy McCormack’s analysis and want to see how far she can take it and what interesting images she can bring in for discussion.
Women in the Picture is a great addition to art lovers’ personal libraries, with elegant prose and insightful, well-supported analysis, not just of the art historical canon, but of contemporary visual and pop culture. There are some points which may be a little difficult for general readers to penetrate, and possibly some missed opportunities for further analysis, but I’d absolutely recommend this book regardless of one’s art education level
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
cerilouisereads's review
challenging
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Racism, Rape, Slavery, and Suicide
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