This document discusses the painting "Dora and the Other Woman" by Penny Siopis from 1988. It summarizes that: 1) The painting depicts Dora, a 19th century woman who was psychoanalyzed by Freud, and casts the artist Penny Siopis in the role of Dora to provide a feminist perspective. 2) The "Other Woman" refers to Sarah Baartman, a South African woman who was exhibited in Europe in the 1800s due to her steatopygia (enlarged buttocks). 3) Siopis uses the painting to comment on how both Dora and Baartman were viewed in the 19

1. GENDER
ISSUES
Penny Siopis,
Dora
and the Other
Woman (1988),
pastel
on paper

2. Dora and the Other Woman
• Dora was a 19th Century hysteric
whom Freud had psycho-analysed
• the theme of hysteria
• ‘dis-ease’ rather than ‘disease’
• Siopis cast herself in the role of
Dora
• a feminist perspective / gender
issue Penny Siopis,
Dora and the Other
- visual evidence of ‘resistance
Woman (1988), pastel on
and rebellion against patriarchy’ paper

3. • the ‘Other Woman’ in the title
– who could she be?
- a reference to ‘hysteria’ as a
symptom of the ‘otherness’ of
woman in ‘scientific’ studies of
the disorder
- SOCIAL COMMENTARY – a
gender issue
• Also - it refers to Sarah
Penny Siopis, Dora and the Baartman
Other Woman (1988), pastel
on paper
• who was Baartman?
Explain briefly.

4. Left: Detail
• caricatures of Baartman that
appeared in the popular press in
19th Century England and France
are pinned to Dora’s drape or
scattered on the floor
• Fascinating to Europeans
because she manifested the
condition of steatopygea (enlarged
buttocks) and because of the
formation of her genitals known as
the ‘Hottentot apron’
• Baartman could be likened to Dora: if nineteenth-century Europeans
interpreted Baartman’s anatomy as a sign of her primitive sexuality, they
viewed Dora’s hysteria as a marker of dark primal urges awaiting discovery by
the intrepid explorer/scientist. As Siopis says, ‘Freud’s comment about female
sexuality being “the dark continent” of psychology connects Dora and Saartjie.
• How is this a reflection of colonialism and the ‘Romantic’ spirit?

5. Question [ 12 marks]
Read the extract on the previous page and answer the question.
HINT: Start with a chunked infographic and then write an essay
with paragraphs.
•Penny Siopis often addresses issues of gender and race.
Explain how she does this by referring to this painting.
•Refer to specific ways in which she uses elements and
principles of Art & Design to explain the feminist message.
•What does Siopis want us to feel about these famous 19th
Century women?
•What is meant by the phrase ‘the personal IS political’?