Women in Revolt! is a landmark exhibition celebrating British feminist activism, art, protest, photography, and performance from the period 1970 to 1990. The show is now open at London’s Tate Britain gallery.
British women had very little protection in law in the early 1970’s. There was no maternity leave, right to equal pay, or legal protection from sex discrimination, and sexism was rife. Married women were legal dependents of their husbands, and men shockingly had the right to have sex with their wives, with or without consent. There were no rape crisis centers or domestic violence shelters. In 1970, fed up with the status quo, around 500 women attended a newly formed 
women’s liberation conference. This spawned spin-off activist groups such as the Gay Liberation Front and the Brixton Black Women’s Group, and soon a strong second wave of feminist protest emerged around the UK, marking 50 years since women’s suffrage. Room One at the exhibition highlights the work of these women through photography, original feminist literature, and posters. By 1971, 4000 women attended the first UK women’s liberation march in London.
The women’s liberation movement grew quickly and achieved notable successes. By 1975 women had the right to equal pay, and to work free from discrimination or harassment. Room Two details how these changes, and further demands, were represented by female artists of the time. As well as challenging attitudes in the workplace, these artists challenged the medical establishment, and attitudes to women at home, including motherhood. Highlights include Gina Birch’s 1977 Three Minute Scream video and Cosi Fanni Tutti’s 1978 series of photographs Woman’s Roll. Helen Chadwick’s 1977 series of photographs, In the Kitchen, in which she wears a series of pvc sculptures representing different kitchen appliances such as a fridge, washing machine, and sink, are inspired.
The late 1970s DIY youth sub-cultures of punk, new wave and two-tone inspired more women to reject the established system and do things their way. Room Three details the links between female musicians, artists, and feminism in this period. Young women now had more options re identity and being a feminist activist was no longer the only way to be a strong, independent woman. 1979 saw Margaret Thatcher voted in as the UK’s first female Prime Minister and, although most feminists despised her destructive right-wing policies, she was a symbol of how the power of women had evolved through the decade.
 |  |
The 1980s were a heady period of political activism, and the feminist movement joined forces with many causes, such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and 1984’s Miners Strike. The women-only Greenham Common Peace Camp became home for thousands of women – some stayed for years. They campaigned against the stationing of American nuclear weapons on British soil. The camp became bigger than the anti-nuclear cause they were fighting for. Many women based there realised life there was better than their hetero-normative previous lives. There are some brilliant photographs in this section.
The next couple of rooms focus on black and POC women’s feminism. The early 1980s riots in many of the UK’s poor urban, predominantly non-white communities, galvanised many black and POC women to campaign for change. These rooms also highlight lesbian activism from the 1980’s, the demand for better AIDS care, the fight against clause 28, and the call for less homophobia and more lesbian visibility.
The show is a fantastic time capsule of how community-based feminist activism achieved so much. This was an era, pre-internet, email, mobile phone, and social media, where you had to get out of bed and perform to effect change. Everything was done on a tiny budget via protest marches, meetings, flyers, posters, low-budget magazines, photographs, and word-of-mouth. Well done to the Tate for showcasing this work, most of which hasn’t been shown before. There is a lot of content in this exhibition, but therein lies the power of the show. Activism was big and strong back then. As well as the struggle to change attitudes the show also highlights the positive force of community action on the individual and the fun these women had in coming together and belonging to a cause. There is still so much work to do, so hopefully a new generation of activists will be inspired by this well-overdue show.
8th November – 7 April 2024 Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG. Daily 10am-6pm www.tate.org.uk
Queerguru’s Contributing Editor Ris Fatah is a successful fashion/luxury business consultant (when he can be bothered) who divides and wastes his time between London and Ibiza. He is a lover of all things queer, feminist, and human rights in general. @ris.fatah
Labels: 2023, ART AND ACTIVISM IN THE UK 1970-1990, review, Ris Fatah, Tate Britan, Women In Revolt
