When we think about feminism, it is not the prettiest to view upon the most shocking realities as it is looking at a beautiful woman. Feminist art is a form of body art that manipulates the stereotypical image of a woman’s body. Back in the day, it was common for women to be portrayed as objects and the most underestimated amongst the public’s perspective. It was a time of unequal rights of basically being a human. In unfortunate deaths and sexual abuse cases, investigations were not committed at its best efforts; the violence continued. Although it was the most difficult, women gathered campaigns, protests, and awareness of what should be done to end the mistreatments and unequal rights against women. In the 1960’s, it was a time of being an independent woman without leaning on a man; which angered many. After years of fighting and protesting, more women were mysteriously killed, and more feminist artists gathered. Despite the tragic deaths of numerous women, it inspired feminist artists to step forward and create body art that not only caused controversies amongst the public, but a huge impact upon society that helped change the perspective of women.
In the 1970’s, artists such as Ana Mendieta had a huge start with creating controversial art that not only angered many but had a huge impact back then to today’s society. Ana Mendieta was born in 1948 in Havana, Cuba. When she turned 12 years old, she was sent to America alongside her sister by the government who organized a sponsorship for Cuban children to flee Fidel Castro’s dictatorship. With little English language, she managed to graduate high- school and later decided to attend the University of Iowa. During her studies at the University, one of her classmates got raped and killed on campus; which inspired Ana Mendieta to act into creating one of the most shocking feminist arts at the time.
The art work, “Untitled (Rape scene)”, is a colored photograph of Ana Mendieta tied up and facing down in a bent position on her table; exposing her buttocks smeared with cow’s blood. This depiction not only addressed feminism, but an act of justice that influenced the reality of rape and murder against women.
Today, women around the world still face unequal treatments by the government, the job industry, and overall society. It is a shame to acknowledge that women do not receive the same amount wage as men and facing increased rates of domestic and sexual abuse daily. In 2019, women perform an estimated 2.6 times the amount of unpaid care and domestic work that men performed, according to a survey by the United Nations. In addition, women also face major issues from society’s perspective of how they dress, how they act, and their overall sexuality. Despite a woman’s private life of making their own life decisions, their sexual and appearances are portrayed as taboo. If a woman has sex, she is labeled a slut, and if she gets sexually harassed, it is her fault because of her clothing and appearance.
A graffiti artist from Montreal, the anonymous Miss Me, creates murals of a half- naked woman wearing a black mickey mouse ski- mask. The artist’s identity is unknown whilst she covers her face with a black mickey mouse ski- mask because it addresses the stereotypical ideation of a woman’s necessity wearing makeup; which also addresses the issues of society’s harsh judgement of what a woman should look like. Her name remains anonymous today, however she shares her personal experience of sexual violence and how it destroyed her for life as a woman. She grew up being bullied at school because of her mixed ethnicity with Jewish background. After her past experiences, she started creating elegant, and sometimes unsettling large-scale wheatpastes swallow buildings whole, confronting issues of dignity and forcing us to reconsider our own truths. Her past artworks are vandalized and at times, erased by angered citizens of Montreal and other areas; which influences the large realization that women of today are still treated unequal.
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Beginner's Guide to Understanding the Language of art 
