Karen Finley was born in the U.S. in 1956.　When she was only fourteen, she became interested in performing.　She graduated from a performing arts school in 1981 and then began to perform in theaters.　In her performances, she showed people some of the problems in the world.

Karen's The Constant State of Desire was first performed at The Kitchen in New York City in 1986.　In this performance she wanted people to notice some of the difficult experiences women have because of men.　It soon became controversial.　Many people did not feel comfortable with the performance.　They thought that Karen hated men too much and was out of control.　She was strongly criticized by the newspapers.　But some other people thought differently and spoke for her.　They said that they felt the experiences Karen showed in this performance were true to life.

Karen hoped that people would think about the sad stories that happen every day.　She believed people would understand her and learn some lessons if they could "read" her performances more carefully.