https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/07/kate-millett-pioneering-second-wave-feminist-dies-aged-82-sexual-politics
QuoteKate Millett, the wayward artist, thinker and activist whose 1970 book Sexual Politics became a keystone of second-wave feminism, has died at the age of 82.
Perhaps aptly for someone who wrote widely and fervently of her pursuit of love, she succumbed to a heart attack during an annual holiday in Paris to celebrate her birthday with her wife and longtime collaborator, the photojournalist Sophie Keir. "Let's always be having an affair. Wherever we meet, however many times a year – let it always be an affair," Millett wrote in Sita, her 1976 account of an earlier lesbian relationship, which, like subsequent autobiographical works, became an exploration of forms of love.
Lena Dunham was among those who paid immediate tribute to her cultural importance, and its continuing impact on a new generation of readers and writers:
QuoteSo sad to hear about Kate Millett's passing. She pioneered feminist thought, de-stigmatized mental illness, wore massive fashion glasses.
The cultural critic Elaine Showalter said: "A revolution needs leaders, and with Sexual Politics Kate Millett came forward to give the Women's Liberation Movement a national voice and a strong connection to higher education. She was an intellectual and a radical feminist who could also speak effectively to a wide general audience."
Born in Minnesota in 1934 to an alcoholic father and a mother who worked as a teacher and insurance saleswoman to support her three daughters, Millett went first to the University of Minnesota. A rich aunt paid for her to go on to Oxford, where she became the first American woman to receive a first-class degree from St Hilda's College.
She was working as a sculptor when Sexual Politics, based on her doctorate at Columbia, was published. A New York Times pen portrait written at the time reported that it had sold 10,000 copies in a fortnight, making her "something of a high priestess of the current feminist wave, a movement long on gimmickry but short on philosophy until Miss Millett appeared on the scene". Andrea Dworkin later wrote: "I cannot think of anyone who accomplished what Kate Millett did, with this one book. It remains the alpha and omega of the women's movement."
"In the matter of conformity," Millett wrote in the book, "patriarchy is a governing ideology without peer; it is probable that no other system has ever exercised such a complete control over its subjects."
Before Sexual Politics, she had published a scathing indictment of women's colleges, Token Learning, which documented the ways women were being trained for gentility and "service" rather than achievement and leadership, said Showalter. "Her visit to Douglass, the women's college of Rutgers University where I taught, in April 1970, persuaded the faculty to rethink its mission and methods and began a new era of feminist education devoted to the encouragement of excellence in women."
Her forthright style and strong opinions won her as many adversaries as friends, among them Norman Mailer, whom she eviscerated in Sexual Politics as one of three "counterrevolutionary sexual politicians", along with DH Lawrence and Henry Miller, for their representations of sex. Mailer lashed back in The Prisoner of Sex, published a year later – "not one of his best", quipped Millett.
In 1974, she published Flying, the first of her books rooted in her own experience, which dealt with the fallout of literary celebrity for a woman who was always uncomfortable in the spotlight. The Loony-Bin Trip (1990) dealt with a painful period when she was hospitalised by her family after being diagnosed with manic depression, and Mother Millett, in 2001, explored the love between mothers and children when decrepitude has overturned the old power relationship.
In 1979, she and Keir travelled to speak at Iran's first celebration of International Women's Day. They were arrested and evicted from the country, but went on to found a support group for women fleeing Ayatollah Khomeini's regime, and to record the experience in a 1981 book, Going to Iran.
With the proceeds from her early success, she bought a 10-acre farm in LaGrange, New York, and set up an artists' colony for women which she financed by growing and selling Christmas trees. She and Keir continued as co-directors after it was registered as a not-for-profit organisation in 2012 and was renamed the Millett Center for the Arts.
Millett was awarded a Yoko Ono Lennon Courage award for the arts in 2012, and a year later was inducted into The National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York, site of the women's rights convention in the US in 1848.
Wait what was second wave feminism again exactly?
RIP Ms. Millett you seemed like a badass.
Quote"patriarchy is a governing ideology without peer; it is probable that no other system has ever exercised such a complete control over its subjects."
Maybe but I can think of a few it is probably tied with.
(https://i.imgur.com/Co33XFp.jpg)
Of course, that is mean/largely inaccurate to 3rd wave, but that is the wave where things have gotten a bit less coherent. Basically phase where people realised 'oh, wait. middle/upper class white women can't really speak for all women.'
Ah thanks that is instructive.
Edit: I was about to say: I guess you are not a big fan of Third Wave Feminism :P
This is probably better:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.slideplayer.com%2F2%2F687324%2Fslides%2Fslide_3.jpg&hash=eedac251bcc290e1b2d27a820e92fce6c0a63ef1)
Quote from: garbon on September 07, 2017, 10:44:34 AM
Basically phase where people realised 'oh, wait. middle/upper class white women can't really speak for all women.'
Yeah it is unrealistic to think people can speak for anybody but themselves.
Quote from: Valmy on September 07, 2017, 10:46:51 AM
Quote from: garbon on September 07, 2017, 10:44:34 AM
Basically phase where people realised 'oh, wait. middle/upper class white women can't really speak for all women.'
Yeah it is unrealistic to think people can speak for anybody but themselves.
True though not great for movement building.
As I recall, one big divergence was black women pointing out that right to work wasn't something they needed. They already were often working / even sole breadwinner in single parent homes, so they had different feminist issues that needed addressing.
Quote from: Valmy on September 07, 2017, 10:34:55 AM
Wait what was second wave feminism again exactly?
Dang, dude. Even I knew what that was. We went over that in PoliSci 101.
I will just ask you all my feminist questions in the future Spicey :P
Quote from: Valmy on September 07, 2017, 10:55:27 AM
I will just ask you all my feminist questions in the future Spicey :P
Oh please do :)
RIP lady.
A good short documentary on feminism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5-5cpdAvB8
Quote from: The Brain on September 07, 2017, 02:07:28 PM
RIP lady.
A good short documentary on feminism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5-5cpdAvB8
Femininism :thumbsup:
Quote from: derspiess on September 07, 2017, 01:53:09 PM
Quote from: Valmy on September 07, 2017, 10:55:27 AM
I will just ask you all my feminist questions in the future Spicey :P
Oh please do :)
I believe this might be a mistake.
I dunno... I'd almost argue that we're back to fighting for a lot of what the second wave fought for. At least, a lot of that wasn't ever accomplished or has gone backwards significantly.
Quote from: merithyn on September 07, 2017, 03:37:39 PM
I dunno... I'd almost argue that we're back to fighting for a lot of what the second wave fought for. At least, a lot of that wasn't ever accomplished or has gone backwards significantly.
Yep, I mean watch The Handmaid's Tale for crying out loud. That's pretty much where we are now.
A lot of big name 2nd wave femminists turned out to be very transphobic, what was her stance on trans rights?
Quote from: jimmy olsen on September 07, 2017, 06:30:08 PM
A lot of big name 2nd wave femminists turned out to be very transphobic, what was her stance on trans rights?
This is important stuff, like Lincoln's views on communism.
Quote from: derspiess on September 07, 2017, 03:40:26 PM
Quote from: merithyn on September 07, 2017, 03:37:39 PM
I dunno... I'd almost argue that we're back to fighting for a lot of what the second wave fought for. At least, a lot of that wasn't ever accomplished or has gone backwards significantly.
Yep, I mean watch The Handmaid's Tale for crying out loud. That's pretty much where we are now.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.snopes.com%2Fapp%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F11%2FPence110216.jpg&hash=cf6bd8f2d9aadc365ec2e1aa98fc81a903e91bc0)
Quote from: garbon on September 07, 2017, 10:43:19 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/Co33XFp.jpg)
That's cute. And the ERA passed as well!
Quote from: Razgovory on September 07, 2017, 08:03:25 PM
That's cute. And the ERA passed as well!
Hey Texas ratified it. You cannot blame us. For once.
Quote from: merithyn on September 07, 2017, 03:37:39 PM
I dunno... I'd almost argue that we're back to fighting for a lot of what the second wave fought for. At least, a lot of that wasn't ever accomplished or has gone backwards significantly.
I remember back on old Languish I told you the earnings gap would shrink as all the boomers, who grew up under the old system, retired or died. Since that conversation it has closed by more than 10%. So that is something.
Quote from: Valmy on September 07, 2017, 10:19:08 PM
Quote from: merithyn on September 07, 2017, 03:37:39 PM
I dunno... I'd almost argue that we're back to fighting for a lot of what the second wave fought for. At least, a lot of that wasn't ever accomplished or has gone backwards significantly.
I remember back on old Languish I told you the earnings gap would shrink as all the boomers, who grew up under the old system, retired or died. Since that conversation it has closed by more than 10%. So that is something.
Um.. .It's still 70/30, give or take... And the Boomers are no longer the largest generation.
Quote from: Ed Anger on September 07, 2017, 07:47:33 PM
Quote from: derspiess on September 07, 2017, 03:40:26 PM
Quote from: merithyn on September 07, 2017, 03:37:39 PM
I dunno... I'd almost argue that we're back to fighting for a lot of what the second wave fought for. At least, a lot of that wasn't ever accomplished or has gone backwards significantly.
Yep, I mean watch The Handmaid's Tale for crying out loud. That's pretty much where we are now.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.snopes.com%2Fapp%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F11%2FPence110216.jpg&hash=cf6bd8f2d9aadc365ec2e1aa98fc81a903e91bc0)
He won't eat dinner alone with a woman that is not his wife. TEH MONSTER
Quote from: merithyn on September 07, 2017, 10:52:28 PM
Quote from: Valmy on September 07, 2017, 10:19:08 PM
Quote from: merithyn on September 07, 2017, 03:37:39 PM
I dunno... I'd almost argue that we're back to fighting for a lot of what the second wave fought for. At least, a lot of that wasn't ever accomplished or has gone backwards significantly.
I remember back on old Languish I told you the earnings gap would shrink as all the boomers, who grew up under the old system, retired or died. Since that conversation it has closed by more than 10%. So that is something.
Um.. .It's still 70/30, give or take... And the Boomers are no longer the largest generation.
No it isn't. It is 80/20. That is a 12% increase as it was 68/32 at the time.
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT
Quote from: derspiess on September 07, 2017, 11:23:41 PM
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT
It is hard to cheer somebody up who does not even check the facts.
That's the spirit. GO AT HIM MERI
FACT: Valmy doesn't have the legs to be a cheerleader.
Quote from: Valmy on September 07, 2017, 11:16:30 PM
No it isn't. It is 80/20. That is a 12% increase as it was 68/32 at the time.
Yep, you're right. And it looks like the younger generations are coming up quicker than the older generation, so there's something to your theory.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/03/gender-pay-gap-facts/ (http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/03/gender-pay-gap-facts/)
Quote from: Valmy on September 07, 2017, 11:24:22 PM
Quote from: derspiess on September 07, 2017, 11:23:41 PM
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT
It is hard to cheer somebody up who does not even check the facts.
I checked after you posted them. That has to count for something.
A willingness to accept new information and to change views is far more important than being correct at the outset. :)
Quote from: Habbaku on September 08, 2017, 12:16:27 AM
A willingness to accept new information and to change views is far more important than being correct at the outset. :)
On Languish? Are you joking?? :lol: :lol: :lol:
;)
Quote from: derspiess on September 07, 2017, 03:40:26 PM
Quote from: merithyn on September 07, 2017, 03:37:39 PM
I dunno... I'd almost argue that we're back to fighting for a lot of what the second wave fought for. At least, a lot of that wasn't ever accomplished or has gone backwards significantly.
Yep, I mean watch The Handmaid's Tale for crying out loud. That's pretty much where we are now.
Don't smirk so hard, wouldn't want you to sprain anything.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on September 08, 2017, 06:57:36 AM
Quote from: derspiess on September 07, 2017, 03:40:26 PM
Quote from: merithyn on September 07, 2017, 03:37:39 PM
I dunno... I'd almost argue that we're back to fighting for a lot of what the second wave fought for. At least, a lot of that wasn't ever accomplished or has gone backwards significantly.
Yep, I mean watch The Handmaid's Tale for crying out loud. That's pretty much where we are now.
Don't smirk so hard, wouldn't want you to sprain anything.
Just trying to fit in here :sleep:
Quote from: derspiess on September 08, 2017, 07:02:51 AM
Just trying to fit in here :sleep:
Keeping whore pills away from cunts, negro cunts and miscellaneous cunts doesn't fit in here, only at your dinner table.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on September 08, 2017, 07:15:45 AM
Quote from: derspiess on September 08, 2017, 07:02:51 AM
Just trying to fit in here :sleep:
Keeping whore pills away from cunts, negro cunts and miscellaneous cunts doesn't fit in here, only at your dinner table.
But I said the right thing! Didn't you even catch my virtue signal?!
Quote from: derspiess on September 08, 2017, 07:55:05 AM
But I said the right thing! Didn't you even catch my virtue signal?!
I couldn't hear you over all your HPV.
Quote from: derspiess on September 08, 2017, 07:55:05 AM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on September 08, 2017, 07:15:45 AM
Quote from: derspiess on September 08, 2017, 07:02:51 AM
Just trying to fit in here :sleep:
Keeping whore pills away from cunts, negro cunts and miscellaneous cunts doesn't fit in here, only at your dinner table.
But I said the right thing! Didn't you even catch my virtue signal?!
You're not supposed to assume a wistful expression when you say that.
Quote from: merithyn on September 07, 2017, 11:54:10 PM
Quote from: Valmy on September 07, 2017, 11:24:22 PM
Quote from: derspiess on September 07, 2017, 11:23:41 PM
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT
It is hard to cheer somebody up who does not even check the facts.
I checked after you posted them. That has to count for something.
Yes it does. Fight cancelled :P
Quote from: derspiess on September 08, 2017, 07:55:05 AM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on September 08, 2017, 07:15:45 AM
Quote from: derspiess on September 08, 2017, 07:02:51 AM
Just trying to fit in here :sleep:
Keeping whore pills away from cunts, negro cunts and miscellaneous cunts doesn't fit in here, only at your dinner table.
But I said the right thing! Didn't you even catch my virtue signal?!
I do not really see the point of virtue signalling when we are all still sort of anonymous here.
Quote from: merithyn on September 08, 2017, 12:48:35 AM
Quote from: Habbaku on September 08, 2017, 12:16:27 AM
A willingness to accept new information and to change views is far more important than being correct at the outset. :)
On Languish? Are you joking?? :lol: :lol: :lol:
;)
You can just go back and delete all your posts that were wrong then. :P
Quote from: Eddie Teach on September 08, 2017, 12:36:34 PM
You're not supposed to assume a wistful expression when you say that.
:moon: