Kate Millett

Kate Millett (b. 1934–d. 2017), an American feminist writer, educator, artist, and activist, was born Katherine Murray Millett in St. Paul, Minnesota, to James Albert Millett and Helen Feely Millett. Raised in a strict Catholic environment, her upbringing became integral to her later memoir Flying (1974). Pursuing her passion for literature, Millett earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in 1958 from St. Hilda’s College, Oxford. Between 1959 and 1961, she explored her artistic talents by studying painting and sculpture in Japan, before returning to New York in 1963, where she began exhibiting her work and teaching at Barnard College. Interested in women’s education, she joined the National Organization for Women (NOW), initiated by Betty Friedan, in 1967. As chair of NOW’s Education Committee, she authored a report titled Token Learning: A Study of Women’s Higher Education in America (1968). Influenced by Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex and Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique, Millett examined issues of women’s equality, misogyny, social structures, and patriarchal norms in her writings. Her groundbreaking book Sexual Politics, based on her doctoral dissertation, challenged sexism in literature and inspired feminist activism. Time magazine famously called her “the Mao Tse-tung of Women’s Liberation.” She later co-founded Women’s Liberation Cinema and released Three Lives (1971), a film exploring women’s self-awareness. During this prolific period, she continued to paint and sculpt, holding numerous exhibitions as an artist. As a writer, filmmaker, artist, and critic, Millett was deeply engaged with marginal lives, concepts of freedom and liberty, and human rights. Her diverse body of work—including The Basement: Meditations on Human Sacrifice (1979), Going to Iran (1981), The Loony-Bin Trip (1990), and The Politics of Cruelty: An Essay on the Literature of Political Imprisonment (1994)—addressed themes of political oppression, cruelty, and aging. Her memoirs Flying (1974) and Sita (1977) explore her strict Catholic upbringing and a love affair, respectively. Through her articles, speeches, and activism, she raised awareness of sexism, patriarchy, gender-based violence, domestic abuse, workplace inequality, and reproductive rights. Alongside other feminist thinkers of her time, Millett helped inspire a movement dedicated to challenging gender norms and advocating for women’s rights and opportunities.