I believe that by questioning the canons of art history as a linear and objective narrative, you ultimately reveal that there are biases and prejudices within the world of art itself. For many, many years, the art world was and still is dominated by straight white males. If you look through the history of art, you rarely hear about female artists. You hear about great male artists like da Vinci, Van Gogh, Picasso, and many others. But it is hard to find female artists, especially back then. In the 20th to 21st century, you may hear more of course since times have changed and we now know who they are, such as Artemisia Gentileschi, Frida Kahlo, Georgia Totto O'Keeffe, and Louise Joséphine Bourgeois. Not to mention countless others.
Women back in those days had to struggle to get noticed. It wasn't easy for women back in the 1900s and even further back. They struggled to get an education, and women were expected to do more domestic work. But would the art world ever accept them? For women there was a lack of apprenticeships and any art academics; school was not for women but for males, and it was the males at that time who controlled the narrative and storyline. The women also had to deal with biases and social norms. Males during this time did not recognize that their female counterparts had just as much, if not more, talent.
If you look at Frida Kahlo's "The Two Fridas", she speaks in that painting about her two identities. Kahlo was of mixed heritage, and there was a lot of prejudice back in the 1930s when this painting was done in 1939. But this painting spoke of her heartbreak from a divorce, but it also spoke of hope and resilience that she could make it through these tough times. She was her own advocate.
Women had a great deal to overcome. The canons of art history, when closely looked at, reveal flaws. What shaped art was the times in which people lived — life shaped art. The social, political, and economic situations helped draw those pictures, and sadly at times the women who helped shape them were often pushed to the sidelines and not taken seriously.
By pushing this linear and objective narrative, we find the hidden biases, but change the trajectory and we see that the art world has become more open to new ideas, and more fascinating art — and is not just headed down a straight line, but has exploded with more diversity and change. And that's what has made the art world of today so wonderful. There is so much more to see, and the story isn't controlled by just one person, but by many.