The Venus of Willendorf: analyzing the analyzers

An issue with the modern interpretation of these figures is that we lack the cultural perspective to really understand their meaning.  We can examine the purposes of the interpreters much more easily since we know much more about the culture of recent times.  We can argue that the figures represent the female power of creation or the more patriarchal view of procreation.  We see the battle of the sexes embodied in our interpretations of this one small figurine.  Stone Age people didn't make things for no reason but we can't be sure what purpose this figure had.  Maybe the reason we discuss this figure is simply that the mystery of it makes so many meanings possible.  The figure has not been given a face, which supports the argument that it is a self portrait.  It could also mean that the statuette represents some physical or spiritual property rather than a specific person.
It's interesting that the term "Venus" once had a derogatory meaning having to do with primitive immodesty.  In modern times, we aren't accustomed to thinking of the very physical depictions of the Greek and Roman deities that we see as anything but ideal human forms.  The patriarchal society of  the time used the title "Venus" ironically as an undesirable form. The ideal female form of that era, around the turn of the twentieth century, was heavily corseted to ensure a small waist.  Male society didn't deal with female issues or mysteries.  Since the figure of the Venus distorts the features that males usually find interesting to such extremes, a patriarchal view will tend to place the figure in the realm of primitive procreation as a love, sex and fertility idol.  A more feminine perspective sees pregnancy, childbirth, the power of creation, menstruation, nurturing and possibly mature wisdom.  Using the term "Venus" places the statue in a state of competition and comparison to the Roman goddess without any understanding the purpose of the figure.  The Roman goddess Venus is usually associated with love and sex without associations with the female mysteries that men usually forget about such as pregnancy, menstruation and childbirth- though Venus had a son named Eros.  Of course Roman society was patriarchal too.  It's probably too late to remove the comparisons of the statuette to the Roman goddess by changing it's name but it's a good idea to try.
Beauty often seems to be defined by the rarest state of the human body.  In the Stone Age it was very difficult to become obese.  People ate what they found or could catch and possibly stored some food for the winter if they could.  Their existence could be compared to the poor who run out of food before the next paycheck.  With the rarity of an overweight woman, this form may have been worthy of reverence.  Someone who could become fat on limited food could be considered to have a great god-given gift.  In modern times, with youth and slimness becoming rarer, these qualities become the ideal, of course.  I observe that youth and slimness aren't associated with pregnancy, etc. either.  The Venus of Willendorf may also depict something beyond motherhood; she seems more of a grandmother figure, a mother of generations.  My own Grandmothers may not have looked beautiful to others as fat old ladies but they seemed beautiful to me.   

Art History pages

Now I've created a blog without ever having read one (before today) .  I'll have to learn about this as I go along but I'm getting a "now you've done it" feeling for some reason.  Maybe this will be fun but I usually think I've had a good day when I don't have to get on the computer at all.   I do have to take on- line classes occasionally and this CWU Art History is one such.