The article “The Woman of Willendorf” I learned many things from such a small special piece of art. From its discovery it has gained a surge of popularity not only for its rarity, but for the evidence it brings about our ancestors creativity and culture. The Venus of Willendorf’s proportions bring about a lot of controversial issues about femininity and sexuality, her name has stirred controversy as to why name her such a name thought only in Greek or Roman connotations, and does the Venus of Willendorf change the definition of what beauty is.
The contemporary issues that are brought up when looking at such an art piece of the Venus of Willendorf are femininity and sexuality. The way the artist chose the specific proportions for the statuette profoundly touch upon the ideas of how we viewed femininity. The statuette style of appearance shows the viewer that she is not afraid of showing her body. It seems she is proud of her curves and overly proportioned attributes such as the breasts, stomach, and buttocks. Based on the article, it argues that femininity was a male construction of a women having a slender body, hiding her body in a civilized manner, and all proportions of her body hips, legs, breasts, vulva have no emphasis. The Venus of Willendorf does not meet any of the Roman or Greek (or the Western world) standards of femininity. She is unrestraint in her posture; she shows no inhibition to hide her sexuality. Her bold action to show her sexuality brings about uneasiness to today’s society of what female power can reach. Women are supposed to be controlled, tamed, and purposed only for a male’s pleasure. The Venus of Willendorf breaks this idea and gives our current generation ideas of how women should actually live.
Not only does her roundness attract you, but the name given to her also leaves you pondering of why the name “Venus”, given that histories profile of the goddess Venus, is of a beautiful, sexually civilized, heterosexual male attracting woman. In the article it states that the original founders gave her the name Venus as an ironic joke for patriarchal society’s sake. It may be true, but it also questions of what could also be the reason as to her name. Do you have to have the physical traits of what the Romans and Greeks idealized for a female or can you be what you truly want to be. Not necessarily being naked for all to see, but being naked in your feelings, femininity, sexuality, and power. Being proud of your attributes instead of hiding them because male dominated society feels you should be ashamed. By naming the statuette a name considered to be the goddess of love and beauty it changes the foundations of what love and beauty is.
The Venus of Willendorf’s in the round style directs you to see all her body, her plump curves are nicely shadowed, smooth and her details are precise. The artist had intention to mold her this way for some reason unknown to anyone. To some the small statuette may seem visually unpleasant because of our current societies views on beauty, but her unpleasantness can actually be beauty. She may not be a perfect model for today’s runway, but she is beautiful in her quality of her details. Her open sexuality brings about an aura of power that could interpret that the Venus of Willendorf feels empowered, free, unafraid of what she represents and who she is. Today’s beauty focuses more on the outside physical beauty, but what needs to be focused more is internal beauty. Physical beauty can erode and erase, but emotional, intellectual, and spiritual beauty are eternal. The Venus of Willendorf is a good representative on what beauty should be.
The Venus of Willendorf breaks barriers of society, culture, and feminism. The style the artist approached to achieve her attributes was thought provoking. The nature of her posture brought upon controversial issues of femininity and sexuality, her name has changed what the Romans and Greeks perceived of what Venus should look and act like, and the composition of the statuette changes what our current society perceives as beauty. The Venus of Willendorf may be ancient, but it still invokes ideas that are influential today.
