Susan Brownmiller (1935 - )

Fri Feb 15, 1935

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Susan Brownmiller, born on this day in 1935, is an American feminist author, journalist, and civil rights activist best known for her 1975 book “Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape.”

In the book, Brownmiller argues that rape had been previously defined by men rather than women, and that men use it as a means of perpetuating male dominance by keeping all women in a state of fear. The New York Public Library selected “Against Our Will” as one of 100 most important books of the 20th century.

Brownmiller was also a member of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the 1960s, and volunteered for Freedom Summer in 1964, wherein she worked on voter registration in Meridian, Mississippi.