Women in Eighteenth-Century Art

In eighteenth-century France, the term ‘the sex’ was a synonym for ‘women,’ as ‘men’ meant both males and people. Women were aligned with the sensual and natural, men with the rational and cultural.  Theories concerning the natural difference between the minds and bodies of women and men warranted the socio-political subjugation of women in eighteenth-century society. 

However, the distinction made between the sexes was not exactly rational.  For instance, certain aspects associated with femaleness were allied to instincts that were considered masculine.  Enthusiasm, the energy responsible for cultural creativity, was believed to be linked to the feminine property of imagination.  Yet, women were not expected to contribute creatively in society, with the exception of their natural creative role, childbearing. 

As products of an era rife with complex views concerning the place and nature of women and their relation to things masculine, it is not surprising that eighteenth-century images of the female can often be laden with ambiguity.  Often such depictions are conflicting, being simultaneously flattering and compromising, or both sympathetic and reproachful.  This is illustrated by Hogarth in the series, The Harlot’s Progress, which condemns the moral corruption that pervades the actions of the men and women depicted, while at the same time providing an erotically-charged narrative that would entice the viewer.