Andrea Dworkin
Andrea Dworkin
Andrea Rita Dworkinwas an American radical feminist and writer best known for her criticism of pornography, which she argued was linked to rape and other forms of violence against women. Although a radical, she said there was a need for liberals, but was widely criticized by liberal feminists. At the same time, she maintained a dialogue with political conservatives and wrote a topically-related book, Right-Wing Women. After suffering abuse from her first husband, she was introduced to radical feminist literature...
ProfessionActivist
Date of Birth26 September 1946
CityCamden, NJ
Sexism is the foundation on which all tyranny is built. Every social form of hierarchy and abuse is modeled on male-over-female domination.
Women's fashion is a euphemism for fashion created by men for women.
Feminist art... will take the great human themes – love, death, heroism, suffering, history itself – and render them fully human.
Men know everything - all of them - all the time - no matter how stupid or inexperienced or arrogant or ignorant they are.
Any violation of a woman's body can become sex for men; this is the essential truth of pornography.
Childbearing is glorified in part because women die from it.
All personal, psychological, social, and institutionalized domination on this earth can be traced back to its source: the phallic identities of men.
On the Left, on the Right, in the Middle; Authors, statesmen, thieves; so-called humanists and self-declared fascists; the adventurous and the contemplative, in every realm of male expression and action, violence is experienced and articulated as love and freedom.
Men are rapists, batterers, plunderers, killers; these same men are religious prophets, poets, heroes, figures of romance, adventure, accomplishment, figures ennobled by tragedy and defeat. Men have claimed the earth, called it 'Her'. Men ruin Her. Men have airplanes, guns, bombs, poisonous gases, weapons so perverse and deadly that they defy any authentically human imagination.
Money speaks, but it speaks with a male voice.
To be rapeable, a position that is social, not biological, defines what a woman is.
The annihilation of a woman's personality, individuality, will, character, is prerequisite to male sexuality.
Under patriarchy, no woman is safe to live her life, or to love, or to mother children. Under patriarchy, every woman is a victim, past, present, and future. Under patriarchy, every woman's daughter is a victim, past, present, and future. Under patriarchy, every woman's son is her potential betrayer and also the inevitable rapist or exploiter of another woman.
Pornography is the essential sexuality of male power: of hate, of ownership, of hierarchy; of sadism, of dominance.