Susan Brownmiller
Susan Brownmiller, born on February 15, 1935, in Brooklyn, New York, is a notable American author and feminist whose work has significantly influenced contemporary discussions on gender and violence. Brownmiller's early experiences with societal expectations of femininity shaped her later critiques of gender norms. She graduated from Cornell University in 1955 and pursued careers as both an actress and a journalist while becoming actively involved in civil rights and antiwar movements.
Her most acclaimed work, *Against Our Will* (1975), redefined societal perceptions of rape, presenting it as a tool of male dominance rather than merely a crime of passion. This feminist classic examines the societal structures that perpetuate sexual violence and highlights the vulnerability of all women. In addition to her nonfiction, Brownmiller has explored feminist themes in her fiction, such as the impact of domestic violence in her novel *Waverly Place*.
Her extensive body of work includes biographies, travel memoirs, and explorations of feminist history, reflecting her consistent focus on issues like rape, domestic violence, and the limitations imposed by traditional gender roles. In 2017, she published *My City High Rise Garden*, blending personal narrative with urban gardening insights. Brownmiller's writings continue to resonate within feminist discourse, examining the intersections of gender, power, and societal expectations.
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Subject Terms
Susan Brownmiller
- Born: February 15, 1935
- Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York
Author Profile
Author Susan Brownmiller was born in 1935 in Brooklyn, New York, to Mae and Samuel Warhaftig. Her early education included studying Hebrew and Jewish history. In her book Femininity (1984), Brownmiller recalls her early gender training, in which she was dressed in frilly clothing and told to stay clean, was given dolls and tea sets to play with, and learned from the stories, films, and advertisements with which she grew up that, as a girl, she was a fairy princess. As a child she loved it, however, by the time she reached adolescence, Brownmiller was struggling with this feminine image. The image required strict behaviors and expectations, but left Brownmiller anxious with the knowledge that failing to fullfill these expectations would have dire consequences.
Brownmiller went to Cornell University and graduated in 1955. She moved to New York and, in 1961, legally changed her surname to Brownmiller. She sought work as an actor before becoming a journalist and freelance writer during the 1960s. She became involved in the civil rights and antiwar movements and joined the Congress of Racial Equity (CORE).
As time went on, she began to analyze not only the rigid codes of femininity but also other kinds of social codes imposed on women. In 1975, she published the work for which she is perhaps most well-known: Against Our Will. In her introduction to this book, Brownmiller describes her own growing awareness of the realities of rape over the preceding few years. During this time, she moved from a naïve denial that rape was anything more than a bizarre crime inflicted by deranged men on a certain type of woman to an understanding that rape was not only something that could happen to any woman, and thus made every woman vulnerable, but also that rape was a method of enforcing and maintaining male dominance over women. A feminist classic, the book has defined society's current understanding of rape as a crime not of sex but of domination and power, an act of violence that limits the freedom of all women. The book also documents the systematic way rape is used as an act of war, in which women are used as pawns in male struggles against each other.
Brownmiller’s first work of fiction, Waverly Place, addresses another key feminist issue, domestic violence. The book was inspired by the widely publicized case of Hedda Nussbaum and Joel Steinberg, in which the two were charged with the murder of their illegally adopted daughter. Nussbaum testified against Steinberg, documenting the psychological and physical abuse she and her daughter suffered. Brownmiller’s fiction and nonfiction work has always been based in her feminist perspective and identity. Her works typically highlight feminist issues, including rape, the restrictions of feminine norms, and domestic violence.
Brownmiller’s other works include Shirley Chisholm (1971), a biography for children; Seeing Vietnam: Encounters of the Road and Heart (1994), a travel memoir that critiques the increase of prostitution in Vietnam following US occupation; and In Our Time: Memoir of a Revolution (1999), a history of the radical feminist movement in the United States. In 2017, Brownmiller published My City High Rise Garden, which was part memoir about living in New York City, and part urban gardening tutorial.
Bibliography
Cohen, Marcia. The Sisterhood: The True Story of the Women Who Changed the World. Fawcett Columbine, 1988.
Edwards, Alison. Rape, Racism, and the White Women’s Movement: An Answer to Susan Brownmiller. 2nd ed., Sojourner Truth Organization, 1979.
Jackson, Esther. “My City Highrise Garden - Plant Talk.” New York Botanical Garden, 11 Jan. 2018, www.nybg.org/blogs/plant-talk/2018/01/from-the-library/city-highrise-garden/. Accessed 30 Sep. 2024.
Kaganoff, Penny. “Susan Brownmiller.” Publishers Weekly, January 27, 1989.
Lankford, Adam, and Hannah Rae Evans. "Sex, Power, and Violence: What Do the Rape Incidents in Susan Brownmiller's Against Our Will Actually Show?." International Criminal Justice Review, 2024, doi:10575677231224350. Accessed 28 Sept. 2024.
Leo, John. “The Comeback of Feminine Wiles.” Time, 30 Jan. 30 1984, p. 82.
Sheffield, Carole J. “Sexual Terrorism.”Women: A Feminist Perspective, edited by Jo Freeman, 4th ed., Mayfield, 1989.