Susan Brownmiller

Susan Brownmiller (February 15, 1935 – May 24, 2025) was an American feminist, journalist and activist. She was best known for her pioneering work on the politics of rape in Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape (1975). The book argued that rape was a crime of power and violence, not passion.[1] Her book also helped create laws that made it easier to prosecute rapists.[1]

Early life

Brownmiller was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Mae and Samuel Warhaftig, a lower-middle-class Jewish couple. She was raised in Brooklyn and was the only child of her parents.[2][3][4] She later took the pen name Brownmiller, legally changing her name in 1961.[3][4]

Brownmiller studied at Cornell University for two years, but did not graduate. She later studied acting in New York City. She appeared in two off-Broadway productions.[5]

Activism

Brownmiller also participated in civil rights activism. She joined CORE during the sit-in movement and volunteered for Freedom Summer in 1964. She first became involved in the Women's Liberation Movement in New York City in 1968. There she joined a consciousness-raising group in the newly formed New York Radical Women organization.[6]

Brownmiller went on to co-ordinate a sit-in against Ladies' Home Journa in 1970, began work on Against Our Will after a New York Radical Feminists speak-out on rape in 1971, and co-founded Women Against Pornography in 1979.

She continued to write and speak on feminist issues, including a recent memoir and history of Second Wave radical feminism. She wrote a memoir called In Our Time: Memoir of a Revolution in 1999.[7]

Brownmiller said that rape has been defined by men rather than women before she released her book. In her book, she said that men use rape as a means of continuing male dominance by keeping all women in a state of fear. All men benefit from this.

She was an Adjunct Professor of Women's & Gender Studies at Pace University in New York City.

Personal life

She called herself as "a single woman", even though "I was always a great believer in romance and partnership." She never married.[1]

Brownmiller died on May 24, 2025 at a hospital in New York City from a long-illness at the age of 90.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Susan Brownmiller, Who Reshaped Views About Rape, Dies at 90". The New York Times. May 24, 2025. Retrieved May 24, 2025.
  2. ↑ Cooke, Rachel (February 18, 2018). "US feminist Susan Brownmiller on why her groundbreaking book on rape is still relevant". The Guardian. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Susan Brownmiller Papers, Harvard Library catalog listing (accessed June 3, 2010).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Susan Brownmiller, "An Informal Bio", susanbrownmiller.com; accessed June 4, 2010.
  5. ↑ Ariel Levy, Female Chauvinist Pigs (2005), chapter 2.
  6. ↑ Susan Brownmiller.com: An Informal Bio Archived 2007-07-01 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ In Our Time: Memoir of a Revolution Archived 2007-07-19 at the Wayback Machine (ISBN 0-449-90820-8)

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