Women’s Rights
Women’s rights are presently at the forefront of the national conversation in a way they haven’t been for nearly half a century. The reversal of Roe v. Wade has turned back the clock fifty years on a woman’s right to control what happens to her own body. Activists have responded with calls to action and pleas for voters to act at the polls to elect officials who will pass laws restoring the rights of women to make their own medical decisions. As the national conversation continues to evolve, it is important to remember that activism takes many forms. There is a long tradition of feminist artists bringing to light the numerous forms of oppression and discrimination that women have experienced, including the lack of attention paid to the interests, rights, and agency of women throughout history.
Many trace the roots of the feminist art movement to American art historian Linda Nochlin’s 1971 essay, “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” Nochlin argued that the problem was not an absence of great women artists—as some, such as Frida Kahlo and Georgia O’Keefe, had managed to attain success and renown despite operating in a male-dominated environment. The problem, instead, is that such artists were historically invisible and fewer in number than men because of systemic obstructions to their education, patronage, and opportunities to exhibit art. Nochlin’s essay led to new research resulting in the renewed appreciation of women artists—a process that continues to this day—and has inspired countless women to cultivate their artistic gifts and pursue careers as artists.
As women artists have gained influence and esteem in the broader art world, gender inequality has been at the forefront of many of their works. One of the most influential women artists is Barbara Kruger, known for her collages comprising black-and-white photographs with declarative captions laid on top. Likely, her most famous work is Untitled (Your Body is a Battleground), a composition initially produced as a poster for the March for Women’s Lives in Washington in 1989. The piece has garnered renewed interest in the wake of the overturning of Roe and has become a rallying cry for women’s rights activists throughout the country.
Another of the most famous pieces of feminist art is Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Table. The work, famous in its own right, is especially notable because of its subject matter—an installation consisting of a table filled with ceramics, textiles, and china commemorating famous women throughout history. Chicago’s work is rare in that it celebrates women for their accomplishments and not simply for the female form. Indeed, the naked female body is too often a subject matter for male artists, a fact brought to light by the feminist art collective The Guerilla Girls, whose 1989 Do Women Have To Be Naked To Get Into the Met. Museum? calls attention to the fact that at that time, only 5% of artists in the Met were female, but 85% of the nudes were female.
Since the women’s movement began in the late 1960s and early 1970s, female artists have continued to confront and defy long-standing biases and traditional gender roles that had limited their careers. From Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills, which critiques the depiction of women in cinema in the 1950s and 60s, to Martha Rosler’s Semiotics of the Kitchen, a six-minute-long video performance that satirizes cooking shows, these artists continue to upend notions of what the role of women in society is and should be.
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe, Justice Murals is working to showcase the work of some of the artists discussed above, along with many others, and to spread their messages over the coming months and is humbled to join the proud tradition of art which brings awareness to the roles of women in society and the many challenges they continue to face on the path to full equality.
