Millett, Kate (1934—2017)
American feminist scholar and activist best known for her book Sexual Politics (1970). Originally her PhD in English Literature at Columbia University, Sexual Politics offered a powerful critique of sexual inequality in western art and literature. She demonstrated the deeply embedded patriarchy values in the works of writers like D. H. Lawrence, Henry Miller, and Norman Mailer (who retaliated with the waspish piece pointedly titled The Prisoner of Sex (1971), denouncing political correctness in writing). By contrast, she argued, writers like Jean Genet offer a more nuanced account of the politics of sexuality. The book was an instant cause célèbre. Millett was featured on the cover of Time magazine and touted as the new face of feminism. Sexual Politics was a vanguard text in Second Wave feminism and its themes remain as important and resonant today as they were in 1970. Millett was never comfortable with the role of feminist spokesperson and wrote an autobiographical account of her experiences following the publication of Sexual Politics in Flying (2000). It also deals with the criticism she received from certain sections of the women’s movement for being bisexual rather than exclusively lesbian. Millett’s later work focused on mental health, particularly the treatment of mental health patients in hospitals---see The Loony Bin Trip (1991), which is autobiographical account of her forced hospitalization---and prisons, particularly the cruel treatment of prisoners---see The Politics of Cruelty (1995).