Mary Wollenstonecraft Memorialised
What is the point of statues? To decorate public spaces? To entertain us? To inform us? To educate us? To brainwash us? (Or at least give us a version of history that someone wants us to have.) To honour someone? Or all of the above?
Statues are very much of their time as we have seen with the felling of Colston in Bristol. Is the statue commemorating the life of Mary Wollencraft of its time? I really don’t know; I’m not skilled in the art of art criticism. Will it stand the test of time or be toppled unceremoniously in 100 years hence?
To be honest, I had never heard of Maggie Hambling (pictured above, via Rex features) before this. I’ve looked at her work and I quite like a lot of it. I haven’t actually seen her statue but instinctively I recoiled from the idea of the mother of feminism being represented by an idealised form of womanhood, one who looks as though she is being seen through the male gaze. Perfectly pert bosoms, toned and tiny. Yet a woman made her. I am a tad confused as to what I think.
I know she is not meant to represent Mary Wollstonecraft, but to honour her. Those who have been campaigning for a statue for years felt she deserved recognition, that we should know about her. Of course we should. She was an amazing woman of her time. She ruffled feathers, she challenged the status quo at a time when saying what she did was unthinkable. She didn’t care what people thought of her. Amongst many other things, she wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women in 1792 and argued that women were as good as men, an outrageous notion at the time.
So in a way, it seems somewhat fitting that the only statue to date to celebrate her is also viewed as outrageous, is contentious and has set people talking about it all over the world. If Maggie Hambling had produced a likeness, an ordinary type of memorial, would we be talking about her like this? I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t. And Mary Wollenstonecraft is definitely worth remembering. That’s what counts.
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Posted on November 12th, 2020 by Jane
