The female nude - medical skins
It is useful to also look at scientific images of the female body to help to understand how gender stereotypes have been formed. The rise of the scientific medical illustration came about with Andreas Vesalius’s (2014) De Humani Corporis Fabrica, first published in 1543. Vesalius represented a move towards seeing inside a body as a ‘sole locus of knowledge’ (Benthien: 2002, 43). The skin became a representational covering that needed to be removed to uncover the hidden knowledge of the body underneath. Biological discoveries during this time also produced a huge amount of medical drawings and sculptures.
When we look at art works of women during this time, we can understand how the female skin and body has been understood in Western art and how this still influences images of women today (Connor: 2004; Benthien: 2002). If we look at the male figure in scientific images, it was often depicted in the act of self-flaying (removing their own skin), revealing muscular forms and therefore their inner strength. This not only demonstrates control by actively removing their own skin, but also the mental strength to overcome the pain and therefore show control of the body.
What is striking in these images of the removal of the skin is the gendered difference, not in the presence of women but in their absence. Benthien (2002) explains that this situates the male body as being ‘understood as the normal [body]’ (86). When women were represented in medical imagery it was primarily to show their reproductive organs, which positioned women as biologically determined, meaning their main function was to reproduce and have children. If we look at the positioning of women in comparison to men in medical illustrations they are clear distinctions to be made. The man generally seen standing up, active and in control, whereas the woman is usually depicted on her back, passive and most interestingly still looking beautiful, often wearing make-up and wearing jewellery.
What is striking in these images of the removal of the skin is the gendered difference, not in the presence of women but in their absence. Benthien (2002) explains that this situates the male body as being ‘understood as the normal [body]’ (86). When women were represented in medical imagery it was primarily to show their reproductive organs, which positioned women as biologically determined, meaning their main function was to reproduce and have children. If we look at the positioning of women in comparison to men in medical illustrations they are clear distinctions to be made. The man generally seen standing up, active and in control, whereas the woman is usually depicted on her back, passive and most interestingly still looking beautiful, often wearing make-up and wearing jewellery.
Reference list:
Benthien, C. (2002) Skin: On the Cultural Border Between Self and World. First Printing edition. New York, Columbia University Press.
Connor, S. (2004) The Book of Skin. London, Reaktion Books Ltd.
Vesalius, A. (2014) De humani corporis fabrica - A Facsimile of the revised version of 1555: (On the Fabric of the Human Body). Amsterdam, Leapold Publishing.
Benthien, C. (2002) Skin: On the Cultural Border Between Self and World. First Printing edition. New York, Columbia University Press.
Connor, S. (2004) The Book of Skin. London, Reaktion Books Ltd.
Vesalius, A. (2014) De humani corporis fabrica - A Facsimile of the revised version of 1555: (On the Fabric of the Human Body). Amsterdam, Leapold Publishing.