- In full:
- Catharine Alice MacKinnon
- Born:
- October 7, 1946, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. (age 80)
- Subjects Of Study:
- sexual harassment
Catharine A. MacKinnon
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Who is Catharine A. MacKinnon?
Catharine A. MacKinnon, born on October 7, 1946, is an American feminist and law professor whose legal theories address sexual abuse within the context of inequality.
MacKinnon's argument that workplace sexual harassment constitutes sex discrimination was instrumental in the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in 1986 that agreed with her argument. From 1980 onward, MacKinnon focused on legal and societal issues within the sex industry, condemning it as a form of sex discrimination that fosters exploitation of women. Her concept of equality has been influential around the world.
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What is Catharine MacKinnon known for?
Catharine A. MacKinnon is an American feminist and law professor known for her influential, though sometimes controversial, legal theories that primarily address sexual abuse within the context of inequality.
MacKinnon argued that workplace "sexual harassment" is sex discrimination. As cocounsel in the first sexual harassment case heard by the Supreme Court, her argument was unanimously affirmed.
MacKinnon also focused on legal and societal issues within the sex industry, condemning it as a form of sex discrimination that fosters exploitation of women. Her concept of equality eliminates dominance and subordination rather than enforcing sameness.
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What does it mean to be a feminist and law professor?
Being a feminist law professor, as exemplified by Catharine A. MacKinnon, involves critically examining and challenging gender bias within legal and social structures. MacKinnon, a prominent American feminist and law professor, has dedicated her work to addressing sexual abuse and inequality.
Feminist law professors often focus on issues such as sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and the exploitation of women, advocating for legal reforms and societal changes that promote gender equality. They may employ various feminist theories, including liberal, socialist, and radical feminism, to analyze and address the complexities of women's rights. Intersectionality, which considers the compounding effects of various social categories, may also inform their approach.
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How did Catharine MacKinnon influence laws about sexual harassment?
Catharine A. MacKinnon, an American feminist and law professor, significantly influenced laws regarding sexual harassment. In 1974, while still in law school, MacKinnon conceptualized workplace "sexual harassment" as sex discrimination. Her argument was instrumental in establishing the legal claim that grew into her first book, Sexual Harassment of Working Women: A Case of Sex Discrimination (1978). In 1986, the Supreme Court, in its first sexual harassment case with MacKinnon as cocounsel, unanimously agreed with her argument, ruling that sexual harassment is sex discrimination.
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What is Catharine MacKinnonâs view on pornography and womenâs rights?
Catharine A. MacKinnon is a feminist legal theorist known for her work on sexual abuse and inequality. MacKinnon argues that the subjugation of women influences standards of femininity and masculinity, shaping heterosexual attraction. According to MacKinnon, heterosexual women often find dominant men attractive, while heterosexual men are drawn to submissive women.
MacKinnon views legal and cultural tolerance of pornography as immoral because it makes the subordination of women sexually appealing to men and perpetuates sex-based domination, violating women's civil and human rights. She and Andrea Dworkin presented evidence against pornography in Pornography and Civil Rights: A New Day for Womenâs Equality (1988).
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How did MacKinnon shape feminist legal theory in the United States?
Catharine A. MacKinnon, an American feminist and law professor, significantly shaped feminist legal theory in the United States through her focus on sexual abuse and inequality.
MacKinnon argued that sexual harassment in the workplace constitutes sex discrimination, a concept that the Supreme Court later unanimously supported. From the 1980s onward, she addressed legal and societal issues within the sex industry, condemning it as a form of sex discrimination that fosters exploitation of women.
As a radical feminist, MacKinnon, along with Andrea Dworkin, campaigned against sexual harassment and pornography, asserting that male heterosexuality objectifies women and promotes their degradation. Her concept of equality, emphasizing the elimination of dominance and subordination, has been influential globally.
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Catharine A. MacKinnon (born October 7, 1946, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.) is an American feminist and professor of law, an influential if controversial legal theorist whose work primarily took aim at sexual abuse in the context of inequality.
MacKinnon, like her mother and grandmother, attended Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, graduating magna cum laude in 1969 with a B.A. in government. In addition, she earned a J.D. (1977) from Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut, and a doctorate in political science (1987), also at Yale. While in graduate school she created the first course in what became Yaleâs womenâs studies program. During this time she opposed the Vietnam War, studied martial arts, and was part of the birth of the womenâs liberation movement.
In 1974, while still in law school, MacKinnon conceived the argument that what she termed âsexual harassmentâ in the workplace is sex discrimination. Her work was instrumental in establishing the legal claim that then grew into her first book, Sexual Harassment of Working Women: A Case of Sex Discrimination (1978). In 1986 the Supreme Court, in its first sexual harassment case, with MacKinnon as cocounsel, agreed with her argument by ruling unanimously that sexual harassment is sex discrimination.
During the 1980s MacKinnon served as visiting professor at a number of law schools, including Osgoode Hall (part of York University in Toronto), the University of Chicago, and Harvard, Stanford, and Yale universities, before being hired with tenure at the University of Michigan Law School in 1990. She later taught at law schools abroad, including the University of Basel and Hebrew University, and was a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin and at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford.
From 1980 forward MacKinnon also focused on legal and societal issues surrounding the sex industry, which she condemned as a form of sex discrimination that fosters and legitimizes exploitation and abuse of women. Feminism Unmodified (1987), documented as one of the most widely cited books on law in the English language; Pornography and Civil Rights: A New Day for Womenâs Equality (1988), written with Andrea Dworkin; Toward a Feminist Theory of the State (1989); Only Words (1993); and In Harmâs Way: The Pornography Civil Rights Hearings (1997) presented evidence against pornography as a violation of civil and human rights. Her concept of equalityâpredicated on eliminating dominance and subordination rather than enforcing sameness and punishing differenceâwas largely adopted in Canada and has been influential around the world. Her analyses of the male bias of the law, as reflected especially in the laws of sexual abuse, and proposals for change were collected in Womenâs Lives, Menâs Laws (2005).
In 1993 MacKinnon represented Bosnian Muslim and Croat women in a groundbreaking case defining rape as an act of genocide in the Serb-led campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina. With cocounsel, in 2000 she won an award of $745 million against Bosnian Serb leader Radovan KaradĆŸiÄ in a civil trial in New York City. Her work with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, as Special Gender Adviser to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and with Equality Now, a nongovernmental organization, often focusing on issues of prostitution and trafficking, further opened opportunities for women to claim sexual offenses as human rights violations.
Are Women Human?, and Other International Dialogues (2000) collected MacKinnonâs writings on many international and comparative issues of womenâs rights, and it also proposed practical solutions. Other books included Butterfly Politics (2017), a volume featuring speeches and other works. Although many of her positions met with opposition, MacKinnon was an influential legal theorist, helping to transform legal education by calling attention to issues affecting women and transforming the law for women globally by opening the legal system to their injuries and exposing the gendered basis of sex crimes.
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