Egyptian Gender Differences
- Created by: ktommo
- Created on: 08-05-17 20:35
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- Gender Differences
- The main purpose of Egyptian art was to serve the needs of the elite.
- Especially the king and his retainers.
- Both in this life and the next.
- In the typical New Kingdom tomb painting, relief or statue, males are dressed in kilts with perhaps a shirt while women wear tight-fitting sheath dresses.
- Probably made from a single piece pf cloth wrapped around the body.
- Archaeological examples of ancient Egyptian clothing demonstrate that the most common garment was a bad tunic.
- This outfit was basically a linen bag with sleeves that fit very loosely.
- Both men and women wore it.
- In art, men wear an outfit that suggests freedom of movement while a woman's garment suggests restricted movement.
- The typical female garment depicted in art could never match reality.
- The dresses are so impossibly tight that a woman could not move,sit or walk.
- The real intention behind this representation is to reveal the woman's body.
- These dresses clearly reveal the overall female form and the pubic triangle.
- Since the difference between everyday Egyptian reality and the presentation of people in art differ so radically, there must have been a reason for the difference.
- The typical female garment depicted in art could never match reality.
- Role of Men
- Men are generally active rather than passive in tomb representations.
- In Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom tombs, the deceased reach for offerings at the offering table or inspect agricultural labourers or workers under his control.
- Artists also depicted men hunting birds or fishing.
- They wear loose clothing and are the active principal in life.
- These roles correspond to an Egyptian view of men actively winning a place for themselves in the afterlife.
- Role of Women
- The importance of women in Egyptian society is often conveyed in artwork found in temples and tombs.
- The role of women in Egypt was that of life-giver and supporter.
- The emphasis in art was on their role as mothers.
- Because of this, women were often depicted wearing little or no clothing.
- The artist's intention was not to portray eroticism but rather to symbolise reproduction.
- Due to their connection with birth, women are most often found depicted on tombs, for the Egyptians considered the tomb a means to re-birth into the next world.
- When labelled with their names in hieroglyphs, a figure of a woman could represent an individual wife, daughter, or cousin.
- Many women represented in one tomb could be a means for a man to emphasise his wealth.
- The main purpose of Egyptian art was to serve the needs of the elite.
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