Synopsis

Sexual violence became a burning issue in the 1970s, and as this book demonstrates, artists ranging from Yoko Ono and Valie Export to Suzanne Lacy, Ana Mendieta, Nancy Spero and Adrian Piper helped make that so. But as Susan Brownmiller made very clear in her landmark book of 1975, rape was not at the top of the agenda for Second Wave feminists, who were mainly concerned about goals that were (and are) more nearly universal: access to jobs and power, equal pay and equity at home; to abortion, health care, childcare. Initially, violence was seen as a marginal issue, affecting a few unlucky—or incautious—women. That perhaps surprising background matters greatly in our present moment, when sexual assault is routinely headline news but confusion still abounds over how to define it, who is most likely to suffer it and how it might be mitigated. As Unspeakable Acts also illustrates, younger artists have been addressing violence against women with great sympathy, rigor and courage. But looking back at how a handful of brave artists addressed rape when it first became something women could talk about provides vital clarification for behaviors that still defy understanding.