Susan Brownmiller was one of the first politically active feminists in New York City during the 1960’s. Her interest in
women’s rights surfaced in much of her work as a free-lance journalist, and an article that she wrote about Shirley Chisholm, the first African American congresswoman, developed into a biography for young readers. In 1971, Brownmiller helped to organize a "Speak-Out on
Rape," and in the process she realized that she had material for a book. She submitted an outline of her idea to Simon Schuster and began researching the subject of rape. After four years of
research and writing, she published
Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape.
Against Our Will explores the history of rape, exploding the myths that, according to the author, influence one’s perspective on the
act. She traces the political use of rape in
war from biblical
times through the Vietnam War, explains the origins of American rape laws, and examines the subjects of interracial rape, homosexual rape, and child molestation. Brownmiller asserts that rape is a conscious process of intimidation by which all men keep all women in a state of fear. Supporting her thesis with facts taken from her extensive research in history,
literature, sociology, law, psychoanalysis, mythology, and criminology, Brownmiller argues that rape is not a sexual act but an act of power based on an anatomical fact; it is the result of early man’s realization that women could be subjected to a thoroughly detestable physical conquest from which there could be no retaliation in kind.
Against Our Will was serialized in four magazines and became a best-seller and a Book-of-the-Month-Club selection, and its nationwide tour made Brownmiller a celebrity. Her appearance on the cover of
Time magazine on January 5, 1976, as one of the twelve Women of the Year for 1975 and on television talk shows as a frequent guest confirmed the timeliness of her book. Since Brownmiller’s analysis of rape presented a new and controversial viewpoint on an already provocative subject,
Against Our Will was received with mixed and at times passionate reviews, some of which were critical of Brownmiller’s research methods and conclusions.
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