By 1974 sexual politics was front-page news. In the wake of the Summer of Love, Roe v. Wade, and Stonewall, gender and sexuality came to be regarded as a fluid and malleable set of shifting identities. Downtown New York enjoyed an all-too-brief and rare period of sexual freedom—not only in life, but also in the work. Ana Mendieta and Carolee Schneemann created art addressing the body and domestic violence. Robert Mapplethorpe and Karen Finley staged and documented sexual taboos. Feminists such as Hannah Wilke and Lynda Benglis joined drag queens like Ethyl Eichelberger to tackle macho male stereotypes, and Annie Sprinkle went from porn star to performance artist. At times confrontational, at times humorous, the Downtown scene struggled to survive as the onset of AIDS and its attendant cultural backlash decimated the populations and spirit of its vibrant communities.