Dorothea Lange's photographs of Japanese-American internees which were commissioned by the War Relocation Authority of the U.S. government. Whereas Lange's portraits are "loaded with embellished calls for spontaneous sympathy" and are "offered as saccharine liberal propaganda," Okubo's work possesses a "succinct, anecdotal irony" which is the result of having actually experienced the hardships of life in the camps rather than having merely been a "voyeur" to them (Welchman, 1989, p. 155). From this, it can be seen that women artists of color play an important role in terms of accurately depicting the issues and experiences which are personally important to them.
Women of color come from many different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. As a result, their works of art are concerned with a variety of themes. Many artists who are women of color take a feminist stance in their work. Even so, there are "a variety of feminisms within contemporary art practice" (Parker & Pollock, 1981, p. 158). Distinct differences can be found in comparing the attitudes and styles of various feminist art groups. The feminist art movement in America had its origins in the early 1970's, with the founding of such organizations as Artists in Residence and the Feminist Art Program. Many women artists began adopting views which were based on one or more of the feminist theories prevalent at that time. One such theory was that of socialist feminism, which focused on the problems of oppression by patriarchal institutions. Another perspective was provided by cultural feminism, which held that the problems of women are caused by traditional sex roles and exploitation by men. Another feminist view which arose at that time was "essentialism." This position was concerned primarily with the "essence" or "nature" of women (Chadwick, 1989, p. 24). As such, its art works dealt primarily with issues pertaining to female bodies, sexuality, consciousness or arche...