After Roe, new show at Oakland Museum looks at Bay Area feminism’s past and future

When the Oakland Museum of California began planning its exhibition “Hella Feminist” in 2018, women were pushing feminism to a new level of cultural relevance by donning pink pussy hats to protest Donald Trump’s administration and coalescing around the #MeToo movement on social media.

“Hella Feminist” tries to respond to these questions with a uniquely Bay Area perspective on the centuries-long fight for women’s equality. The show presents provocative new art works that speak to people’s of-the-moment grief, rage, joy or hope, while pulling out cultural artifacts from OMCA’s own collection that address identity, work, motherhood, body image, reproductive freedom and sexuality.

“Hella Feminist” tackles these questions early into the show with an interactive board where visitors can anonymously fill out note cards finishing the following sentences: “I am a feminist and … “ “I am a feminist but … “ and “I am not a feminist but …” Visitors enter the show via an ethereally-lit hallway displaying women’s undergarments from the 19th century to the present day. Laid out and or mounted on mannequins, the items include corsets, bustles, petticoats and stockings, inviting views to consider how women have been expected to conform to shifting physical ideals through history.

This section features historic abortion rally posters, birth control handbooks and other artifacts related to pregnancy, birth and motherhood. Embracing sexual pleasure also is a theme, and in a way that can be surprising and humorous. For example, it’s easy to be drawn in to appreciating the aesthetics of sex toys while stopping by two display cases filled with colorfully and elaborately shaped vibrators and dildos from the Feelmore Adult Gallery in downtown Oakland and Berkeley.

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