--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The female body has always been a…" description: "\"The female body has always been a construction. Even feminist art of the 1970s fashioned a body in accordance with its own ideas, and in this regard it..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f49/valie-export-59518_art_the-female-body-has-always-been-a-constr_1125877.jpg" --- # The female body has always been a construction. Even… ![“The female body has always been a construction. Even feminist art of the 1970s fashioned a body in accordance with its own ideas, and in this regard it was a form of manipulation too. Subsequently, we've had to engage with a lot of things that we used to disavow as manipulation. We can't just…” quote by Valie Export](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f49/valie-export-59518_art_the-female-body-has-always-been-a-constr_1125877.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f49/valie-export-59518_art_the-female-body-has-always-been-a-constr_1125877.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f49/valie-export-59518_art_the-female-body-has-always-been-a-constr_1125877.jpg) > “The female body has always been a construction. Even feminist art of the 1970s fashioned a body in accordance with its own ideas, and in this regard it was a form of manipulation too. Subsequently, we've had to engage with a lot of things that we used to disavow as manipulation. We can't just dismiss everything as manipulations anymore, since the alternatives are constructions, too. From our perspective, from this corner of the planet, we have to admit that it's all constructed. There is absolutely no nature. Nature is one of the biggest constructions.” [Valie Export](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valie-export/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The body is a cultural construct; even feminist art manipulates it, revealing that all notions of 'nature' are constructed. **In simple terms:** Bodies and nature are cultural constructions. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about naturalness. Themes feminism construction culture identity Mood critical thought‑provoking Type theoretical philosophical When to use this quote - art criticism - gender studies - media analysis Key Concepts sociology philosophy art theory Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean to live authentically within constructed realities? - How can we navigate 'nature' as a construct? A Different Perspective Recognizing constructions can lead to nihilism if not balanced with meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Construction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/construction/) [Female](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/female/) [Female body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/female-body/) [Feminist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminist/) [Feminist art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminist-art/) [Manipulation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manipulation/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Perspective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perspective/) ## Related quotes > [I was trying to develop a completely new, nonvoyeuristic approach to the female body as something other than a visual object. I wanted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valie-export/i-was-trying-to-develop-a-completely-new-nonvoyeuristic-approach-to/) [Valie Export](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valie-export/) > [The only thing I know is that I know nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/the-only-thing-i-know-is-that-i-know-nothing/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [Recently some work I made could be seen as feminist art or work that relates to the body. That's just what I'm feeling -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-gordon/recently-some-work-i-made-could-be-seen-as-feminist-art-or-work-that/) [Kim Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-gordon/) > [Feminist art is not some tiny creek running off the great river of real art. It is not some crack in an otherwise flawless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/feminist-art-is-not-some-tiny-creek-running-off-the-great-river-of/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [I never made "feminist art," and if I did it was not deliberate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-stuart/i-never-made-feminist-art-and-if-i-did-it-was-not-deliberate/) [Michelle Stuart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-stuart/) > [For me, now, feminist art must show a consciousness of women's social and economic position in the world. I also believe it demonstrates forms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-lacy/for-me-now-feminist-art-must-show-a-consciousness-of-women-s-social/) Suzanne Lacy > [Feminist art may... though perhaps our imaginations are so mutilated now that we are incapable even of the ambition, introduce a new theme... should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/feminist-art-may-though-perhaps-our-imaginations-are-so-mutilated-now/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [Sometimes, being a feminist artist, there are times where I'm in a position where I just want to feel like I'm saying all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-hanna/sometimes-being-a-feminist-artist-there-are-times-where-i-m-in-a-2/) [Kathleen Hanna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-hanna/) > [Feminist art... will take the great human themes – love, death, heroism, suffering, history itself – and render them fully human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/feminist-art-will-take-the-great-human-themes-love-death-heroism/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [I didn't like anti-Vietnam War art. I didn't like feminist art. I thought it was heavy-handed and stupid - as art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-barry/i-didn-t-like-anti-vietnam-war-art-i-didn-t-like-feminist-art-i/) [Robert Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-barry/) > [I wouldn’t want to be labelled unless it was something much broader and inclusive such as an ecological artist or a visionary artist, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolee-schneemann/i-wouldn-t-want-to-be-labelled-unless-it-was-something-much-broader/) [Carolee Schneemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolee-schneemann/) > [The work is what it is and hopefully it's seen as feminist work, or feminist-advised work, but I'm not going to go around espousing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-sherman/the-work-is-what-it-is-and-hopefully-it-s-seen-as-feminist-work-or/) [Cindy Sherman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-sherman/) > [Sometimes, being a feminist artist, there are times where I'm in a position where I just want to feel like I'm saying all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-hanna/sometimes-being-a-feminist-artist-there-are-times-where-i-m-in-a/) [Kathleen Hanna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-hanna/) > [I am not Lyme disease, that's not who I am, I'm still a feminist artist, but this is a part of my story too,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-hanna/i-am-not-lyme-disease-that-s-not-who-i-am-i-m-still-a-feminist-artist/) [Kathleen Hanna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-hanna/) > [Feminist art is not some tiny creek running off the great river of real art. It is not some crack in an otherwise flawless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/feminist-art-is-not-some-tiny-creek-running-off-the-great-river-of-2/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) ## More by Valie Export > [Much of the art of the 1960s, from body art to video and direct performance, was concerned with similar issues. And then there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valie-export/much-of-the-art-of-the-1960s-from-body-art-to-video-and-direct/) [Valie Export](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valie-export/) > [I was trying to develop a completely new, nonvoyeuristic approach to the female body as something other than a visual object. I wanted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valie-export/i-was-trying-to-develop-a-completely-new-nonvoyeuristic-approach-to/) [Valie Export](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valie-export/) > [Whenever we think of the body as a vessel for artistic ideas, we somehow always focus on the surface of the body. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valie-export/whenever-we-think-of-the-body-as-a-vessel-for-artistic-ideas-we/) [Valie Export](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valie-export/) > [My interest in time emerged out of an engagement with the media that I was working with. Film and performance are temporal media. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valie-export/my-interest-in-time-emerged-out-of-an-engagement-with-the-media-that/) [Valie Export](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valie-export/) [Explore all 5 Valie Export quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valie-export/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The female body has always been a construction. Even feminist art of the 1970s fashioned a body in accordance with its own ideas, and in this regard it was a form of manipulation too. Subsequently, we've had to engage with a lot of things that we used to disavow as manipulation. We can't just dismiss everything as manipulations anymore, since the alternatives are constructions, too. From our perspective, from this corner of the planet, we have to admit that it's all constructed. There is absolutely no nature. Nature is one of the biggest constructions.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Valie Export" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valie-export/the-female-body-has-always-been-a-construction-even-feminist-art-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valie-export/the-female-body-has-always-been-a-construction-even-feminist-art-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f49/valie-export-59518_art_the-female-body-has-always-been-a-constr_1125877.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f49/valie-export-59518_art_the-female-body-has-always-been-a-constr_1125877.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f49/valie-export-59518_art_the-female-body-has-always-been-a-constr_1125877.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The female body has always been a construction. Even feminist art of the 1970s fashioned a body in…” — Valie Export", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Valie Export", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valie-export/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The female body has always been...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valie-export/the-female-body-has-always-been-a-construction-even-feminist-art-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valie-export/the-female-body-has-always-been-a-construction-even-feminist-art-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```