A highly controversial author and activist,

Dworkin is a leading radical feminist and member of the contemporary women's movement. Her provocative investigations into the cultural origins of misogyny and sexual violence have generated contentious debate among feminists, academics, politicians, and free speech advocates. A forceful spokesperson against pornography, Dworkin calls attention to the sexual myths that perpetuate the role of women as degraded objects of male gratification and exploitation. Alternately revered and reviled for her firebrand polemics and castigation of mainstream feminists, Dworkin has exerted an important influence on public discourse surrounding the modes, extent, and human cost of male-dominated sexuality and female oppression.

Biographical Information

Born in Camden, New Jersey, Dworkin was raised in a liberal Jewish home. While still in grade school, Dworkin expressed her desire to effect social change as a writer or lawyer. Her early literary interests were shaped by the writings of Arthur...