Sexual politics

By Kate Millet

Subjects: History, Women in literature, Feminist theory, Sex role, Sex in literature, Women

Description: Praised and denounced when it was first published in 1970, Sexual Politics not only explored history but also became part of it. Kate Millett's groundbreaking book fueled feminism's second wave, giving voice to the anger of a generation while documenting the inequities-- neatly packaged in revered works of literature and art-- of a complacent and unrepentant society. Sexual Politics laid the foundation for subsequent feminist scholarship by showing how cultural discourse reflects a systematized subjugation and exploitation of women. Identifying patriarchy as a socially conditioned belief system masquerading as nature, Millett demonstrates in detail how its attitudes and systems penetrate literature, philosophy, psychology, and politics. Her incendiary work rocked the foundations of the literary canon by castigating time-honored classics-- from D. H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover to Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead-- for their use of sex to degrade and undermine women.