Misogyny Of Women

Misogyny in art dates back further, from Marvell, to Giovanni Boccaccio in his 14th century book, The Decameron. Boccaccio commences his book by generalizing women in the statement: “Whenever, fairest ladies, I pause to consider how compassionate you all are by nature, I invariably become aware that the present work will seem to you to possess an irksome and ponderous opening” (Boccaccio 4). He continues on to warn women to brace themselves, for his stories may be perceived as gruesome. In doing so, he assumes that all women are intolerant of anything of a disturbing nature and that they are fragile and need to be monitored. This is reinforced when the women narrators of the book plan to venture off to avoid the plague and Filomena says:
“...You
In this verse, RaeLynn submits to two stereotypes, the first being that women are emotional, whereas men are not. While crying and showing emotion does not necessarily equate to weakness, this line restricts women to a certain representation. The second stereotype is that men are leaders, as seen from the line proposing that women let men drive, or be in control. The subsequent line shows promise that Raelynn believes women amount to more than what she previously conveyed:
“Somebody's gotta put up a fight,
Make him wait on a Saturday night”.
However, the following line reverts back to RaeLynn’s old ways:
“To walk downstairs and blow his mind,
So God made girls”.
This line again advocates that women were created to be gaped at by men. Throughout the song, there is no mention of anything girls gain from God creating boys, or any form of girls being independent. The entire piece is evidence that society is centered around men and that women must conform themselves to whatever men need them to be, and this is supported by the fact that God made them for this reason. Along with Marvell, “God Made Girls” uses religion to enhance the validity of their
This ideal was seldom challenged due to the circumstance that art had long been represented by men. This idea of a woman is someone who is meek, beautiful, and compliant to the wills of men. While this pattern spans throughout art history, it is most pronounced in several works, including Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress”, where the narrator flaunts his intellect in an effort to seduce a woman, who he exclusively identifies as being timid and physically attractive. Boccaccio’s The Decameron also exhibits these viewpoints through Boccaccio’s own prologue. Here, he assumes all women reading his book will not be able to endure the disturbing stories he’s written, indicating his view of women being weak. However, in this work, Filomena, a woman, also states that all women are incapable of working together and require the assistance of men in order to survive, which gives readers the impression that women agree with the presumptions of men, therefore rendering them to be true. The Decameron later inspired Leighton to create the painting “Cymon and Iphigenia”, which highlights the female form and depicts a man ready to take advantage of an unconscious woman. This induces a mentality to audiences that men are able to indulge themselves in the pleasures of watching or engaging with a woman regardless of her compliance. And although these works are considered to be part of art history,