When one thinks of feminist art, teddy bears rarely—if ever—come to mind. For Kelly Parsell, however, the connection was apparent: In her piece for “Feminist Interrogations,” an exhibit at ARC Gallery curated by DePaul University art historian Joanna Gardner-Huggett, Parsell lines a portion of the floor with a series of cut-out paper teddy bears whose stomachs she fashioned from birth control containers. Each of the Thirteen Birth Control Bears (2007) contains a different number of birth control pills and placebos. The work highlights the complications of adolescence, when young women are considered physically mature yet emotionally immature.

“Feminist Interrogations” examines social justice and the female experience by featuring emerging feminist artists from the United States, Europe and Australia. Overall, the exhibit features more hits than misses: Another highlight is Josephine Ferorelli’s Untitled Women of the Cabinet (2007), which juxtaposes images of women in the current Bush administration such as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice—who are unfortunately rarely acknowledged or highly criticized—with facts such as their dates of birth and government credentials.

The show’s message is clouded by its narrow focus on developed nations, but it succeeds in fostering conversations about gender, reproductive rights, racism and domestic violence. In addressing these issues, the works on display reveal frightening similarities even though their makers live hundreds of miles apart. The show’s artists thrive in framing female experiences as universal rather than specific.