Kate Millett facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kate Millett
|
|
|---|---|
Photograph by Linda Wolf, 1970
|
|
| Born | Katherine Murray Millett September 14, 1934 Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | September 6, 2017 (aged 82) Paris, France |
| Occupation |
|
| Education | |
| Notable works |
|
| Spouse |
|
| Signature | |
 |
|
| Scientific career | |
| Influences | Simone de Beauvoir |
Katherine Murray Millett (September 14, 1934 – September 6, 2017) was an American writer, teacher, artist, and activist. She is known for her important work in the feminist movement, which works for equal rights for women. She studied at the University of Oxford and was the first American woman to earn a degree with top honors from St Hilda's College, Oxford. Many people see her as a key figure in the "second-wave feminism" movement.
Kate Millett was passionate about several causes, including women's rights, human rights, peace, and civil rights. Her books often explored these topics. In the 1960s and 1970s, she taught at universities like Waseda University, Bryn Mawr College, Barnard College, and the University of California, Berkeley. Later in her career, she wrote books such as The Politics of Cruelty (1994) and Mother Millett (2001). She received several awards for her work, including the Lambda Pioneer Award for Literature and Yoko Ono's Courage Award for the Arts. She was also added to the National Women's Hall of Fame.
Millett grew up in Minnesota but spent most of her adult life in New York City. She was married to sculptor Fumio Yoshimura from 1965 to 1985. Later, she married Sophie Keir, and they were together until Millett's death in 2017.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Katherine Murray Millett was born on September 14, 1934, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Her parents were James Albert and Helen Millett. When Kate was 14, her father left the family, which made life harder for them financially. Her mother worked as a teacher and sold insurance. Kate had two sisters, Sally and Mallory. Coming from an Irish Catholic family, Kate attended parochial schools in Saint Paul.
In 1956, Millett graduated with high honors from the University of Minnesota. She earned a degree in English literature. A rich aunt helped pay for her to study at St Hilda's College, Oxford, in England. In 1958, she earned a degree with top honors, becoming the first American woman to do so from St. Hilda's. After working as a teacher and artist for about 10 years, Millett went to Columbia University in 1968 to study English and comparative literature. While there, she also taught English at Barnard College. She supported student rights and women's liberation. She finished her main research paper in 1969 and received her doctorate degree in 1970.
Career and Activism
Early Career as an Artist and Educator
After graduating from Oxford, Millett taught English at the University of North Carolina. However, she soon left to focus on studying art.
From 1959 to 1961, she lived in New York City, where she taught kindergarten and learned to sculpt and paint. She then moved to Japan to study sculpture. In Japan, Millett met fellow sculptor Fumio Yoshimura. She also had her first art show in Tokyo and taught English at Waseda University. In 1963, she returned to New York City.
Starting in 1964, Millett taught English and showed her artwork at Barnard College. She was part of a group of young teachers who wanted to improve women's education. Millett aimed to give women "the critical tools necessary to understand their position in a patriarchal society." Her strong views on politics and her criticism of Barnard led to her leaving the college in 1968. Her art was also shown in an exhibit in Greenwich Village. During these years, Millett became interested in the peace and Civil Rights Movement. She joined groups like the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and took part in their protests.
In 1971, Millett taught sociology at Bryn Mawr College. That same year, she began buying and fixing up property near Poughkeepsie, New York. This place became the Women's Art Colony and Tree Farm, a community for women artists and writers, which also grew Christmas trees. Two years later, she taught at the University of California, Berkeley.
Later Career and Activism
In 1980, Millett was one of ten artists whose work was shown at the Great American Lesbian Art Show in Los Angeles. Millett also wrote for On the Issues magazine and continued writing into the early 2000s. In her 1994 book, The Politics of Cruelty, she wrote about state-approved torture, highlighting its use in many countries.
Millett was also involved in prison reform and campaigns against torture. A journalist named Maureen Freely wrote about Millett's view on activism later in her life: "The best thing about being a freewheeler is that she can say what she pleases because 'nobody's giving me a chair in anything. I'm too old, mean and ornery. Everything depends on how well you argue.'" In 2012, the Women's Art Colony became a non-profit organization and changed its name to the Millett Center for the Arts.
Feminism
Millett was a leading figure in the women's movement, also known as second-wave feminism, during the 1960s and 1970s. For example, she was part of CR One, one of the first lesbian-feminist consciousness-raising groups.
In 1966, Millett became a committee member of the National Organization for Women. She later joined other groups like the New York Radical Women and Radical lesbians.
Millett was one of the first writers to describe the modern idea of patriarchy. This concept explains how society has historically been set up to give men more power and control over women. Millett wrote several books about women's lives from a feminist viewpoint. For example, in her 1979 book The Basement: Meditations on a Human Sacrifice, she wrote about the murder of a teenager named Sylvia Likens.
In 1979, Millett and Sophie Keir, a Canadian journalist, traveled to Tehran, Iran. They went to work for Iranian women's rights as part of the Committee for Artistic and Intellectual Freedom. Their trip followed new rules from Ayatollah Khomeini's government. These rules stopped girls from attending schools with boys, required working women to wear veils, and did not allow women to divorce their husbands. Thousands of women protested at Tehran University on International Women's Day, March 8. About 20,000 women marched through the city's Freedom Square. Millett and Keir attended these rallies. Two weeks after they arrived, they were taken from their hotel room to a locked room at immigration headquarters. They were told they might be put in jail. After staying overnight, the women were put on a plane to Paris. Millett was relieved to be safe but worried about the Iranian women left behind. She wrote about this experience in her 1981 book Going to Iran. Millett is also featured in the feminist history film She's Beautiful When She's Angry (2014).
Academic Works
Sexual Politics
Sexual Politics started as Millett's PhD research paper and was published in 1970. This bestselling book criticized patriarchy (male-dominated society) in Western culture and literature. It looked at the sexism (unfair treatment based on sex) and heterosexism (discrimination against non-heterosexual people) in the works of famous novelists like D. H. Lawrence, Henry Miller, and Norman Mailer. Millett explored where patriarchy came from and argued that unfair treatment based on sex was both a political and cultural issue. In its first year, the book sold 80,000 copies and was reprinted seven times. It is seen as a very important book for the women's movement.
Mother Millett
Kate Millett wrote Mother Millett (2001) about her own mother, Helen. In her later years, Helen developed serious health problems. Kate visited her mother in Minnesota, and they talked about their relationship and went on outings. When her mother could no longer live alone, she was moved to a nursing home. This was one of Helen's biggest fears. Kate visited her mother and was upset by the care she received and her mother's sad mood. Residents who were called "behavioral problems" could be physically held back. Helen told Kate, "Now that you're here, we can leave."
Kate knew how much her mother had done to support and raise her. Millett became her mother's caregiver and helped arrange her daily therapies. She encouraged her mother to be active, wanting to give her "independence and dignity." Pat Swift wrote about the book: "Helen Millett might have been content to go 'gently into that good night'—she was after all more afraid of the nursing home than dying—but daughter Kate was having none of that. Feminist warrior, human rights activists, gay liberationist, writer and artist, Kate Millett has not gone gently through life and never hesitates to rage at anyone—friend or foe, family or the system—to right a perceived wrong. When the dignity and quality of her ailing mother's life was at stake, this book's unfolding tale became inevitable." Even though Helen had played a role in Kate being sent to a hospital wing at the University of Minnesota, Kate had her mother moved from the nursing home back to her apartment, where caregivers looked after her.
Personal Life
Relationships
Kate Millett was known for being direct and determined. These qualities helped her become a very important feminist in the 1970s. She wrote several books about her own life, including her relationships with her husband, and family. Her relationship with her mother was sometimes difficult because of Kate's strong political views and unique lifestyle. Her mother was especially upset when Kate wrote about her relationships in her books. Family relationships also became difficult when Millett was admitted to psychiatric wards and when she wrote The Loony Bin Trip about her experiences.
In Mother Millett, Kate wrote about her mother's declining health and poor care in the nursing home. Kate moved her mother from the home back to an apartment, where caregivers helped her. In the book, Millett writes honestly about the situation, including her mother's distant nature and her family's struggles to understand the elderly and those with mental health issues. However, she also describes moments of forgiveness and a close relationship that developed with her mother, which she called "a miracle and a grace, a gift." While her relationships with her sisters were difficult during this time, they eventually supported their mother living in an apartment.
Marriage
In 1961, Millett moved to Japan and met sculptor Fumio Yoshimura. In 1963, Yoshimura and Millett moved to New York City. They married in 1965 to prevent Yoshimura from being deported. Millett said they were "friends and lovers" during their marriage. She dedicated her book Sexual Politics to him. They divorced in 1985. At the time of her death, Millett had recently married Sophie Keir, who had been her partner for 39 years.
Mental Health Advocacy
Kate Millett became an activist for mental health reform. She was upset by how mental hospitals operated and how easily people could be admitted against their will. With her lawyer, she helped change the law in Minnesota. Now, a trial is required before someone can be admitted to a mental hospital against their will.
Millett was also active in the anti-psychiatry movement, which questioned traditional mental health treatments. As a representative for MindFreedom International, she spoke out against psychiatric torture at the United Nations. This happened during discussions for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2005.
In 1978, Millett became involved with the Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press (WIFP). This organization works to improve communication among women and connect the public with women-focused media.
Bowery Redevelopment
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Millett was involved in a disagreement with New York City officials. They wanted her to leave her home at 295 Bowery as part of a large redevelopment plan. Millett and other residents tried to stay, but they eventually lost. Their building was torn down, and the residents had to move.
Death
Kate Millett passed away in Paris on September 6, 2017, due to a heart attack. She was 82 years old, just eight days before her 83rd birthday. Her spouse, Sophie Keir, was with her when she died.
Awards and Honors
In 2001, Millett's book Mother Millett won the Best Books Award from Library Journal. In 2012, she received the Courage Award for the Arts from Yoko Ono. This award was created to honor artists, musicians, writers, and others "who sought the truth in their work and had the courage to stick to it, no matter what." Between 2011 and 2012, Millett also received the Lambda Pioneer Award for Literature and a grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. In the summer of 2011, she was honored at a special event by Veteran Feminists of America, where other famous feminists like Susan Brownmiller and Gloria Steinem were present.
In March 2013, the U.S. National Women's Hall of Fame announced that Millett would be one of the people added to the institution that year. Beverly P. Ryder, a co-president of the board, said that Millett was a "real pillar of the women's movement." The ceremony took place on October 24, 2013, at the National Women's Hall of Fame headquarters in Seneca Falls, New York.
Images for kids
-
University of North Carolina building
-
Ōkuma Garden, Waseda University
-
Bryn Mawr College, campus entrance
See also
In Spanish: Kate Millett para niños
