It is generally acknowledged that the 60's feminist movement emerged when women, working in other social movements, discovered that they were discriminated against even in these modern, alternative, and "inclusive" spaces. This revelation, as well as the new models for dissent and activism presented by other movements, led to the creation of the (Second Wave) feminist movement.
Activist movements in the 60's relied on a wide variety of forms of public expression to distribute their message. Protests and demonstrations were common, but more creative means were also used. The idea was that the means had to attract attention - they had to be seen. The proliferation of media technologies in the 60's also created new ways to spread a message. Marshall McLuhan predicted that the increase of such technologies would increase cultural participation. Activists and artists alike began to manipulate these technologies with this idea in mind.
At the same time, artists of the 60's "were questioning the authority and exclusionary practices in their own world" (Felshin 17). Half informed by, and half independent from the questioning going on in the culture at large, the art world began to reflect the changes going on in the "real" world. Artists began to question both the art world's "institutions and it's aesthetic strategies" (Felshin 17). They began to question the exclusionary practices of the art world "Establishment" and demand greater control and representation. .
The Conceptual art movement also played a large part in instigating this process. The movement was a reaction to years of formalism and a critique of formalist aesthetics. Many of the artists involved with the movement were influenced by Marxist critiques of power and economics. Conceptual art began to critique the idea of the "art object" and it's "value." Conceptual artists also desired to narrow the distance between art and art's audience, between art and life.