The Artist and Challenging the Patriarchy

The artwork Dollhouse was constructed by Miriam Schapiro and Sherry Brody for the Womanhouse exhibition in Los Angeles in 1972. Dollhouse was constructed using various scrap pieces to create items in the house.

Each room in the work signifies particular roles women are expected to fill in society, exploring the conflicting nature of each role. The work excludes male figures or roles, and the only male included is a fabric nude model. Schapiro and Brody’s artwork gives an insight into the facade of the safe, traditional home that women are expected to create in order to fulfil their expected role as wives and mothers. Upon viewing the seemingly perfect rooms closely, hidden horrors are revealed to the audience such as spiders, rattlesnakes, and scorpions. The heavy lace and feminine patterns intended to make the dollhouse an intimate work contrast effectively with the dangers present, emphasising the concept of woman as dolls placed into the roles the patriarchy sees fit for them and conveying the danger of women being subservient and accepting of the gender roles prescribed to them. The various symbols of the rooms; a parlour, a kitchen, a nursery, an artist’s studio, a Hollywood star’s bedroom, and a ‘harem’ room extrapolate these conflicting roles, challenging the assumption that the domestic lives of women and the roles they are expected to fill, prevent them from creating influential art. The tiny nature of the rooms in the work suggests the imprisonment of the hopes of women as they are confined to set gender roles by patriarchal society. Clearly, this piece was a significant work in the feminist art movement, challenging the assumptions of the patriarchy through its statement regarding  the dangers of following roles set by society and the patriarchy.