Womanocity

It's no secret that women have not been treated fairly over the years. But neither have African-Americans, Asians, Native Americans, Hugenots, Pilgrims, Falun-Gong Practitioners or Jews. When Joan Kelly-Gadol wrote her piece regarding women in the renaissance she based it mostly on Baldesar Castiglione's The Book of the Courtier. This is understandable as her piece is in response to his book. But let us first remember that:

1). his book was a fictional account

2).although women weren't seen as dominating they still were respected

3). there were women renaissance artists

4). some women did have a dominant role

5). a renaissance is a rebirth of antiquity

6). humanism was part of the renaissance.

Delving into these facts further it was stated in an earlier class discussion that I felt Castiglione created this 'perfect courtier' solely because he knew a mortal man with these qualities could never exist, along with the fact that the book is pure fiction it goes against common sense to base real life off of an idealized story. Hitting the second point about women being respected even though they weren't seen as dominating factors . . . a woman being repsected at this point in time was a huge step in the right direction. My third point in combating Ms. Gadol's opinion about women in the renaissance is simply that there were women in the renaissance. For instance Artemisia Gentileschi who painted Judith Slaying Holofernes. (The picture is posted above.) On to the next point . . . women such as Elizabeth I, Mary I, Margaret of Austria . . .etc. Further information about women ruling during the Renaissance can be found *Here*. The renaissance was also a rebirth of antiquity. This is seen through virtually every painting made during the time. However women, especially, were paid tribute to by having their bodies modeled after the body of the goddess Venus. Take Titian's Venus of Urbino (which is also the same Urbino the book takes place in . . .picture is to the side) here the woman is made to look like the goddess. My final point is that humanism was part of the renaissance and Gadol conceedes that nobelwomen were in fact taught dance, music, Greek, and Latin, so that they were cultured. Although this is not a very long strenuous argument like that in Castiglione's book . . . it is very true. Based upon the facts that Gadol based her judgement on a fictional book, women were respected, there were women Renaissance artists, some women were dominant, antiquity was rebirthed and then dedicated to women, and women were educated as part of the humanist experience I feel it is only reasonably concluded that women did in fact experience a Renaissance, it may not have been identical to that of a man but it was uniquely theirs.