Symbols. These range from road signs and arrows directing us to our favourite shops and restaurants to religious symbols. What about them makes it to be seen almost everywhere?
With the concept of communication in society becoming a growing interest of mine, I have been drawn to the simplicity that is involved in symbols and its ability to share a message that could be a sentence or two long. It's potential to be used around the globe to represent a movement to bring about change is fascinating.
It is often that the symbols we see daily represent a literal place, activity or object and it is in arts such as literature, paintings and dance that the clarity of symbols and/or words begin to vary. As we are encouraged to read, see and think behind what is presented in front of us. These thoughts motivated me to think about symbolism and its usage in art. To delve deeper into this, I first needed to consider its definition.
'Late nineteenth-century movement that advocated the expression of an idea over the realistic description of the natural world'
Reading these words, I started to think about artists who use recurring themes and symbols within their work to reiterate a message and to challenge cultural beliefs. The first artist who came to mind was Frida Kahlo.
For those who don't know, Kahlo was a Mexican painter whose artwork is primarily self-portraits, which hint at the cultural beliefs on gender and race of the society she was raised in. The reoccurring theme of a female body surrounded by nature stands for her resistance towards societal roles. In a society where toxic masculinity was praised and women remaining childless was looked down upon, it seems clear why her work advocates for gender equality.
Looking through her paintings, I decided to produce a Pinterest board including a few of her paintings that spoke to me the most about female power and the concept of life and death. This process had also allowed me some time to think about gender roles and how cultural and religious beliefs have constructed this notion.
I am a Hindu, and if I am being honest with you, I grew up following my parent's practices and didn't think to question them.
I was a sheep.
I am unsure of what exactly was the turning point but eventually, I did start questioning - as I learnt to love the 'why' to the things I was doing. Over the past two years, I have found myself in a diverse bunch and they have all helped me in this understanding process by starting conversations about religion and giving me that space to share my opinions.
Being drawn more and more every day to the empowerment of girls and women around the globe and gender equality, I wanted to take some time into researching gender roles within my religion and to produce artwork reflecting on this knowledge.
When researching I found a notion across several articles - the role of men and women can vary across Hindus. This arises from different interpretations of sacred texts and how interpretations are vulnerable to change as a result of social and cultural principles.
The Laws of Manu is considered as a ' Hindu a code of conduct' and was produced by many Brahmin priests. This is the first time I had heard anything about it and my immediate reaction to the ideas suggested in this text was anger. The Law of Manu addresses topics such as social order, marriage, permitted occupations and roles of women in society.
'The father protects the women in childhood, the husband protects her in youth, the children protect her in old age, a woman should never be independent,'
I guess you now know what started making me angry.
I know it might seem unreasonable to feel this way, since I have not fully read The Laws of Manu myself - but the idea that some Hindus accepted and may still accept this belief makes me feel incredibly frustrated.
In Hinduism, women's roles are traditionally associated with taking care of the family. In texts such as The Laws of Manu and Yajurveda, the men are described to 'bind the wife's waist with a rope as she enters the sacrificial arena'. Such descriptions suggest that women should be devoted to their husband and fuels the concept that women are inferior.
Gender roles become more prominent during temple worship. Within daily worships, known as a Puja, women are encouraged to participate. However, their contribution in temple worships is significantly less. Mainly because, in most cases, they are told that they are not allowed to perform Hindu rituals. This sounds alarming, right? But how many of you, Hindus, have questioned this before?
Here, it is important to recognise the impact of religious practices on cultural beliefs and how it can make it increasingly difficult for a community to reach gender equality and free of discrimination towards women.
Fortunately for me (and I'm sure many of you), the finding of sacred texts such as Devi Mahatnyam ,which places emphasis on female strength, made me feel a little relieved.
Within the portraits in this blog post, I have combined flowers by using a technique that I have been developing since I started this blog - line drawing. It is interesting to see how the line drawing is simple, yet the combination of thin and thick lines builds contrast and creates both an engaging background and overlapping pattern.
You may be wondering why flowers?
Where there are several connotations attached to flowers, such as purity and delicacy, I am choosing to see it as a symbol of growth. From just reading a sentence out of The Laws of Manu I felt angry - this is sign that in today's world many women, like myself, will not accept this. Whilst there are many improvements to be made, conversations around gender roles to be started and knowledge to be shared, it is good to know that there is progress.
As Kahlo used nature in her work to provide a sense of hope for her society, I have used young women to act a symbol for change. Women's roles are evolving. However, it is important to recognise that whilst there are women who are challenging cultural and various religious beliefs, there are some who can't help but feel that they are disrespecting tradition. This demonstrates the need for a collective change and that women should be encouraged, namely by the people around them, to show resistance towards ideologies that they do not stand for as opposed to complying with them.
Let me know in the comments any thoughts you have on gender roles and if you would like me to expand the concept of symbolism within my artwork :)
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