Sexual Politics: A Surprising Examination of Society's Most Arbitrary Folly

My favorite Tara Mills so far! Inspired by the secret life of a politician's wife, Ms. Mills weaves a memorable story full of intelligent wit and sexy sizzle. Justine Hubbard knows her marriage to an up and coming politician Gary is a sham, but she plays the game until meeting photographer Sean o'Donnell. Sean recognizes the deep loneliness in Justine because it is an emotion he knows well. The interplay between the two is so fun and sophisticated. The scene at the museum crackles with vitality and I laughed alongside the characters, even as my heart broke knowing their conundrum. A highly recommended read.

Millett has a lot to say about male dominance and the history of sexuality. Her book, Sexual Politics, has been called sensational and groundbreaking. Critics gush that she was original in her thought. Sexual Politics has been reviewed as well researched and historically significant. Traditional gender roles persist despite changes in sexual behavior and norms. Sexual identities and behaviors are shaped and controlled by society's influences. Millett opens Sexual Politics by breaking down works by authors like Henry Miller, Normal Mailer, and D.H. Lawrence. Line by line she interprets intimate scenes to demonstrate a man's power over women. Erotic moments are no longer playful or sensual. In turn they become acts of dominance, show more humiliation, and abuse. Women are described as gullible, manipulated, possessed, and compliant. Men are arrogant, controlling, and often times they demonstrate contempt for the women with whom they share intimacy. In the second half of Sexual Politics, Millett goes on to describe the Victorian age when it was common law that a woman ceased to be her own person once she entered marriage. Her wages, possessions, and even children became property of the man of the house. His wife assumed serf status. Millett explores the norms of patriarchy - violence is a "right" of the dominant male. Whole societies (tribal Africa and elsewhere) subscribe to the hierarchy. Women are sometimes idolized or patronized but always exploited. Male dominance has been a universal standard for centuries. Just look at Freud's clinical work. He was the king of the penis envy theory and had the idea that women were just castrated males ("...maternal desires rest upon the last vestige of penile aspiration" p 185). Women cannot advance knowledge because of their lack of a penis - you cannot put out a fire without "equipment."
Remember the attitudes towards women in Nazi Germany during World War II...
All in all, Sexual Politics was depressing to read. Consider this: if you are a woman and you work in an occupation that serves others (teacher, nurse, governess), you are a servant or slave. If you are a live-in caretaker you are no better than a prisoner, kept under surveillance. Millet has this way of taking ordinary situations and turning them on their heads. show less

Em honra de Kate Millett (1934 - 2017)

Uma dos baluartes da segunda onda feminista, Millett reverberou tudo que havia de errado com o backlash pós-sufrágio que as feministas sofreram no século XX e essa é uma tentativa de desmistificar tudo que o saber-poder masculino tentou nos impingir durante séculos.
A primeira parte do livro abrange todo o período histórico e cultural considerado como a primeira revolução sexual, de 1830 a 1930, Wollstonecraft, Mill, Engels, Charlotte Bronte, Thomas Hardy, George Meredith, Oscar Wilde, Ibsen são contrapostos a Rossetti, Ruskin, Tennyson no delinear de como eram vistas as mulheres no século XIX e o que historicamente estava acontecendo nos EUA e Inglaterra para que as coisas mudassem com as show more sufragetes. Vemos duas visões díspares na sociedade vitoriana, primeiro a eficiente visão de John Stuart Mill descrita em A Sujeição das Mulheres e a insípida e tenebrosa visão de John Ruskin.
Na segunda parte do livro temos os exemplos da contra-revolução, o backlash, primeiro exemplificado com as diferenças ocorridas na sociedade alemã com o nazismo, de como as mulheres voltaram a serem vistas como "parideiras" do Estado. Logo a seguir vemos como a Revolução Russa foi libertária para as mulheres dando-lhes direito ao aborto e à igualdade social para logo em seguida com o advento do stalinismo serem novamente relegadas à condição de párias sociais.
O créme de la créme dessa segunda parte do livro é a extensiva análise sobre o reacionarismo freudiano e o quanto a visão equivocada de Freud sobre as mulheres as prejudicou no século XX e foi pedra de toque para os movimentos reacionários com relação à política sexual. De fato, tudo que Freud escreveu e falou sobre as mulheres é um show de horrores, é humanamente impossível lê-los e extrair algo de bom daquilo, é de uma misoginia sem parâmetros, o que acabou obscurecendo a mente dos pós-freudianos e dos funcionalistas também.
Enfim, livro fundamental sobre a história da política sexual, assim como baluarte do movimento feminista. show less

My favorite Tara Mills so far! Inspired by the secret life of a politician's wife, Ms. Mills weaves a memorable story full of intelligent wit and sexy sizzle. Justine Hubbard knows her marriage to an up and coming politician Gary is a sham, but she plays the game until meeting photographer Sean o'Donnell. Sean recognizes the deep loneliness in Justine because it is an emotion he knows well. The interplay between the two is so fun and sophisticated. The scene at the museum crackles with vitality and I laughed alongside the characters, even as my heart broke knowing their conundrum. A highly recommended read.

In the late 1970s, in New york City, Kate was a friend, although for a short period because I moved away and lost contact. She was a fascinating person, incredibly astute and aware of women struggles. I am a man, and I thoroughly enjoyed her company, never felt that the women's lib movement was against people like me. When I was in need of shelter, she provided me with one and I still regret to this day not having been able to say thank you in a very meaningful way.
A sad note to her writing is that in 2015, women are still struggling in many parts of the world and also in the US, at the mercy of retard right wing politicians who seem to be incapable of recognizing their fears of the other sex, with their miserable antediluvian concepts. show more The worst is, that they are the ones condemning the way other societies are treating women without realizing that they are as bad if not worst, because of their hypocritical diatribes.
A book that every members of congress should read and learn by heart. show less

An eyeopener. Moving, so scanning in some books. My favorite ones. After reading this, I swore off Mailer and H. Miller forever. Met Kate later, when she was making art in a studio in the East Village. My idea of an artistic rebel.

It is a book that has started the second wave (or third depending which academic you follow) of feminism and as such it has already historical value. It is a fascinating read, even today.