In this major book, Griselda Pollock engages boldly in the culture wars over 'what is the canon?' and 'what difference can feminism make?' Do we simply reject the all-male line-up and satisfy our need for ideal egos with an all women litany of artistic heroines? Or is the question a chance to resist the phallocentric binary and allow the ambiguities and complexities of desire - subjectivity and sexuality - to shape the readings of art that constantly displace the present gender demarcations?