OBJECTIVE: • I intend to explore the oppression of women in a patriarchal society with particular reference to art. • To achieve this I will examine the treatment of women in art institutions and within society as a whole and by discussing assumptions about the nature of femininity and how these have an oppressive force. SOCIETY: • Family: What does it mean to be a “good” women? An exploration into patriarchal codes of conduct enforced upon women that forbid female professionalism. • Institutions: How knowledge is manipulated to maintain current social divisions that segregate men and women and prioritise male characteristics. • Power: artistic impressions of the power dynamic that exists between men and women. Using examples of pictures I will demonstrate different approaches to this subject. ART HISTORY: • An investigation into the manipulation of knowledge and the use of negative assumptions of femininity to prevent female artists achieving recognition. EROTICISM: • The evident bias in painting of the nude that only acknowledges the male viewer. • How does this bias affect the idea of rights and equality and how have female artists confronted this issue? • Have women escaped oppression today?