During the 1960s (and still, even today) society's hegemony revolved around the strength of the Patriarchy and Heteronormativity of WASPs, with many people still trying to strike out and fight against the the established beliefs and gain equality, be in for women or for people of colour, with the only way for one's voice to be heard is by banding together under one banner.
The women artists created the 'Women Art Revolution' (WAR).
The issues in society at the time (and still, even today) was how little recognition female artists were receiving, or even just exposure in any form of official gallery, where there could be over 15 more men's work when compared to women, where men had complete dominance over both the art that could be seen, and where it would be shows.
The inequality between women and men was not only an acceptable standard in the industry, but many men used and exploited it to ensure their dominance and control over it was cememented.
As well as this, all forms of art, be it high or 'low', has begun to regress into a state of 'muted simplicity', that aimed to be pure and free of the politics surrounding it.
As it stands, the way minimalist art was constructed and displayed shows a general ignorance to the state of society around it, as though it was produced to be purposefully silent during this time.
At the turn of the decade, during the 1970s, there was a great rejection of the established regime of government off of the back of such incidents as Watergate, leading to the art of the time turning against society and almost boycott it. However, however ironic (and stupid it was), these 'anti-government institutions' would not allow women to display their art within their galleries.
This meant women began to create their own.
Feminist art began being taught in colleges, leading to a huge liberation in how women's issues and stigmas were perceived and then ultimately lifted, or just talked about.
Howardena Pindell
In the UK, however, the liberation of women in art took a much more academic approach, with the rejection of traditional art history teachings.
Rather than Women simply 'accepting "what is" as "normal"', they began challenging society and education, claiming that 'the fault is not with the stars or their womb or anything else, but how they are taught their gender differences make them inherently 'worth less' than men'
This Ideology is carried back throughout history, back into the furthest classical art, where men art shown as brave, strong and honourable heroes, where as women are shown as weak and onlookers to men's greatness. When this work carries on throughout history, it almost transcends culture and becomes a part of our nature, where women are almost born submissive, and men dominant, because of how long these roles have been assigned.
