American Gothic: A Early Sign of Women's Rights?
Hi reader,
Image: American gothic, Source: Wikimedia
The painting, American Gothic, by Grant Wood was created in 1930 and brings up the topic of Women's rights. From the painting, the man is holding the only tool in the painting, which makes the viewer lean towards the idea that the man is doing the work and is in charge. Another reason why the man looks to be in charge is from the man is looking directly at the viewer and the female is behind the man and looking towards the man. This shows that the female is not the main person in charge and follows the man because she is behind the man. In this time period, many women did not have many rights and they had to follow their husbands or male figure in the house because it was not common for women to work outside of their homes. This painting, like others from the Modernism era, created a chain reaction for women's suffrage and other rights.
From that time period to now, women have gained many rights such as voting, working outside of their homes, and closing the pay gap between males and females, but as a society, men and women are not completely equal. Today, women are still not receiving the same pay for the same work as their male counterparts, and people still have a stigma towards women not being at home. Modern-day people need to realize that women can do any job that a man can, and receive equal pay for the work, without receiving stigma from other people's judgment on them. From the painting, the woman is behind the man, but a modern-day interpretation would say, "behind every successful man, there is a successful woman," and more people need to realize this saying.
When I first seen this painting my first thought was that what he had in his hand was a weapon, I thought he was protecting. My mind was far away from thinking he was in charge. Maybe you're right about this painting seeing that he's in charge. I like your analysis though I really, It had me re thinking the painting and its meaning.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely this pictures symbolizes the past and the present because it shows the position a male has gotten due to his physical characteristics like physical strength , however, we live in a new society that has been able to show that also women have power and sometimes are better than males in different aspects. Therefore, I don't think is not necessary nowadays to depend on somebody because in the past the woman who didn't get married was not sustainable. Nevertheless, when you have a team with a woman and man who match together, for sure there is more success.
ReplyDeleteHey! I really never looked at American Gothic like this. To be completly honest, I always viewed this painting as a farm couple and never really dove into the real meaning behind it. However, after reading your analysis, I don't think I'll ever look at it the same! I love how you talk about how modern society views women as more than just objects (at least in most cases). I also really enjoyed how in depth you talk about the positions of the subjects.
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