Who Is Renoir And Gauguin Ruin A Misogynist?

Renoir and Gauguin are both misogynist after having read Renoir and the Natural Woman and Going Native. They both think that women shouldn't be included in society and only should be kept at home. Renoir believed that women shouldn't think for themselves and that if they got a job outside of the house as a doctor, lawyer or other similar than they became a man and didn't need to be treated like a women anymore. He believed that women should be controlled by males and that they shouldn't have rights or thoughts to themselves. ""When women were slaves they were really mistresses. Now that they have begun to have rights, they are losing their importance. When they become men's equals they will really be slaves"" (300). Renoir believed that if a women was smart and independent they were no longer desirable since their main jobs should be to take care of the house and children.
"If she were to be on an equal footing with man in public life, he would find her odious and ugly" (301).
Gauguin believed that women were similar to nature "The feminine populated, the women possessing a shared character which took form in a sort of animal nature, the result of centuries of ritualized response to an established role" (318). Gauguin seemed to show that since women become mothers and create new life they are more closely to nature. He also believed that women should be controlled. "In this respect, the image of the savage and the image of the woman van be seen as similarly structured, not only within Gauguin's work, but as a characteristic feature in the project of representing the Other's body, be it the woman's or the native's" (327). He believed that women were best to be controlled by a
'master'.

Renoir and Gauguin were not misogynist. They were acting and believing the same as other men during that time period. It was the cultural norm to want women in the house and to raise the children. Renoir thought that the way women would clean would help them get exercise so they could enjoy having sexual intercourse more. "[A]nd the best exercise for a woman is to kneel down and scrub floors, light fires or do the washing... without such exercise he believed that society would produce women who would not be capable of enjoying sexual intercourse to the full" (301). He believed that mothers were happy when they were at home around their children. Gauguin believed that women were similar to young men and that they keep their innocence and grace. Gauguin also believed that life was beautiful especially with Teha'amana in it. "I started to work again and my house was abode of happiness. In the morning, when the sun rose the house was filled with radiance. Teha'amana's face shone like gold, tinging everything with its luster, and the two of us would go out and refresh ourselves in the nearby stream as simply and naturally as in the Garden of Eden" (326). Both men believed that keeping women in the house was good for them because women were good at being housewives and taking care of the children. They were better at the job than the males are.