Conclusion: The Modern Legacy of The Dinner Party
Since its unveiling in 1979, Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party has become almost synonymous with the feminist art movement of the second wave. For the past forty years, people have not been able to stop talking about the shocking display of 1970s feminist ideology. The Dinner Party has made a lasting impression on pop culture and has been critiqued and commented on by many since its creation. One criticism that has become more prominent in the 21st century is the noticeable lack of diversity in the women chosen to be honoured in The Dinner Party. For example, of the thirty-nine women with a place setting dedicated to them, there is only one Black woman: Sojourner Truth. This criticism has existed since the piece was created, however, it has become even more prominent in the current age of intersectional feminism. Furthermore, there has been heavy criticism of Chicago’s use of vaginas as symbols of womanhood, which many have considered to be exclusionary towards transgender women. In a 2017 interview with W Magazine, Chicago addressed this criticism with a controversial statement, saying, “There’s a lot of variation about how people define what it means to be a woman—we know that, and we know that it’s not binary. However, most of the women who are women have vaginas, okay?” The modern criticism of The Dinner Party show how feminism has evolved since the 1970s to have more of an intersectional approach.
Now permanently located at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, The Dinner Party continues to fascinate, inspire, and sometimes upset viewers. It is a seminal work that encapsulates the values of the 1970s feminist art movement and the second wave in general. While there is much to criticize, there is also much to celebrate about this bold artwork and the women who came together to create it.