The “Venus” statuettes found from prehistoric eras call for much discussion. There are too many possibilities for explanations for us to stop debating, and as the discussion continues, more and more imagination and curiosity is invested. The strange shapes of the depicted women pique our interest far too much for us to settle on an official explanation, and quite honestly, even if there was a definitive answer that everyone agreed on, researchers and historians would not want to stop inventing the past.
Perhaps it was a comfort object, like we have blankets or favorite toys or even pictures of our family members. It may emphasize the features we think of as erotic, but those features are also the most comforting to children. I personally preferred hugs from larger women when I was little. If their body shape consisted of blobs, then those were the women I wanted to be around. Their large squishiness translated into maternal instincts in my childhood mind. I naturally trusted them more. I admit though, that this is not likely when the obvious crotch detailing is taken into consideration. However, I still think it is a possibility.
I definitely agree that whatever the statuettes may be trying to portray is an idea, not based on a specific person. The lack of face or unique features shows this, but what convinces me is the impracticality of such a large body type in supposed prehistoric lifestyles. Even farmers and outdoorsmen present day are continually preoccupied with surviving despite the addition of modern tools and technology. We can store food almost infinitely and buy everything we need almost immediately. It cannot be possible that prehistoric peoples had the sources and time to get that obese, and I do not believe they had the genetics to blame it on yet either.
I think that more than most of the women were very skinny, probably starved-looking if they were always on the move to find food resources. If this were the case, then it would make sense for a member of that society to depict the opposite of what was there, because, as humans, we always want what we cannot have. It is very possible that women wished that they were plumper for sexual or survival reasons and thus attempted to depict what they wished they could be. It is also possible that men found largeness more rare and exquisite and thus attempted to depict what they wanted.
However, the “Venus of Willendorf” is incredibly realistic in some respects. It is hard to believe that its bulges and proportions were conjured up in someone’s imagination.
In the lectures, it was mentioned that the proportions were very similar to what a pregnant woman may see of herself. I would never have thought of that, but I do agree that this particular “Venus” fits that idea extremely well. Also, though women most likely were busy all of the time, it may be true that pregnant women did less and therefore had more time on their hands to stare at themselves or whittle away at something. The only trouble with that idea is how incredibly large it is. I would not think that even the pregnant women would be that obese. They would have to eat a lot, and if they had that much food available, then I do not see why they would be nomadic still.
In the lectures, it was mentioned that the proportions were very similar to what a pregnant woman may see of herself. I would never have thought of that, but I do agree that this particular “Venus” fits that idea extremely well. Also, though women most likely were busy all of the time, it may be true that pregnant women did less and therefore had more time on their hands to stare at themselves or whittle away at something. The only trouble with that idea is how incredibly large it is. I would not think that even the pregnant women would be that obese. They would have to eat a lot, and if they had that much food available, then I do not see why they would be nomadic still.
This may sound offensive, but it is a possibility that I have not heard from anywhere else and it may be worth mentioning. Maybe these statuettes were created to show what was not beautiful or what the worst case scenario for a prehistoric woman was. If there was an extremely large woman to observe, I would imagine it possible for the rest of the society to be angry with her. She obviously would have access to plenty of food, pregnant or not, to get that large. If we assume that having that much food and excessive weight was not the norm, then we can assume that everyone else would be hungry, skinny, jealous, and unhappy.
At any rate, there are so many possible explanations to this. I am somewhat inclined to think that they might have been something similar to the fads that we experience, like trading cards and collectibles. Seeing that there are so many like statuettes found. Whatever the real functions were, these “Venuses” have provided generations of speculators with ample discussion.
