The Basement: Meditations on a Human Sacrifice

Kate Millett
Born	Katherine Murray Millett (1934-09-14) 14 September 1934 Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	6 September 2017(2017-09-06) (aged 82)
Occupation(s)	Feminist author, educator, artist, activist
Years active	1950s–2017
Known for	Sexual Politics (1970)
Notable work	Sexual Politics, The Politics of Cruelty, Mother Millett

Katherine Murray Millett (September 14, 1934 – September 6, 2017) was a prominent American feminist author, educator, artist, and activist. She made history as the first American woman to graduate with first-class honors from St Hilda's College, Oxford. Millett is most renowned for her groundbreaking book Sexual Politics (1970), which originated from her doctoral thesis at Columbia University. According to journalist Liza Featherstone, Millett played a pivotal role in promoting "legal abortion, enhanced professional gender equality, and sexual liberation."

Her activism encompassed various causes including feminism, human rights, peace advocacy, civil rights, and opposition to psychiatric practices. Millett’s writings frequently tackled issues related to women’s rights and mental health reform, often incorporating autobiographical elements that revealed her experiences with sexuality and personal relationships. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, she held teaching positions at Waseda University, Bryn Mawr College, Barnard College, and University of California, Berkeley. Later publications include The Politics of Cruelty (1994), which examined state-sponsored torture, and Mother Millett (2001), an exploration of her bond with her mother. Between 2011 and 2013, she was honored with the Lambda Pioneer Award for Literature, received Yoko Ono's Courage Award for the Arts, and was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Born in Minnesota, Millett spent much of her adult years living in Manhattan and at the Woman's Art Colony in Poughkeepsie, New York, later renamed the Millett Center for the Arts in 2012. In 1970—the year Sexual Politics was released—she openly identified as lesbian but subsequently declared herself bisexual within the same year. Millett was married to sculptor Fumio Yoshimura from 1965 until 1985 and later wed Sophie Keir, remaining married until her passing in 2017.

Early life and education

Katherine Murray Millett entered the world on September 14, 1934, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, born to James Albert and Helen () Millett. Her father worked as an engineer but struggled with alcoholism and left the family when she was fourteen, leaving them in modest financial circumstances. Her mother supported the family through work as a teacher and insurance agent. Millett had two sisters: Sally and Mallory—the latter appearing in Three Lives. Of Irish Catholic descent, she attended Catholic parochial schools in Saint Paul.

In 1956, she graduated magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature, also belonging to the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. Backed by financial support from a wealthy aunt, Millett achieved first-class honors in English literature at St Hilda's College, Oxford in 1958, marking her as the first American woman to attain this distinction there. After spending roughly ten years working as an educator and artist, she pursued graduate studies in English and comparative literature at Columbia University starting in 1968 while teaching at Barnard College. During this period, she actively championed student rights, women's liberation movements, and abortion reform efforts. Millett earned her doctorate with distinction in March 1970.

Initial phase as an artist and educator

After completing her studies at Oxford University, Millett began teaching English at the University of North Carolina, but she left before the semester ended to pursue art studies.

Between 1959 and 1961, she worked as a kindergarten instructor in New York City while developing her skills in sculpture and painting. Subsequently, she relocated to Japan to further her sculpture education, where she met the sculptor Fumio Yoshimura. During this time, she held her debut solo exhibition at Tokyo's Minami Gallery and taught English at Waseda University. Millett returned to New York’s Lower East Side in 1963.

From 1964 onward, Millett combined teaching English with exhibiting her artwork at Barnard College. She was involved with a collective focused on reforming women's education by equipping them with analytical tools to challenge patriarchy. Her outspoken political views, critical approach in Token Learning, and institutional budget reductions culminated in her dismissal on December 23, 1968. Her art was displayed at the Judson Gallery in Greenwich Village. Concurrently, Millett participated actively in peace and civil rights activism, joining the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and taking part in demonstrations.

In 1971, Millett took up a sociology teaching position at Bryn Mawr College and began purchasing land near Poughkeepsie, New York, founding the Women's Art Colony and Tree Farm—a unique space blending a community for women artists and writers with a Christmas tree farm. By 1973, she was teaching at the University of California, Berkeley.

From the 1980s to the early 2000s

In 1980, Millett was one of ten artists invited to exhibit at the Great American Lesbian Art Show held at Los Angeles’ Woman's Building, despite identifying as bisexual. She contributed articles to On the Issues magazine and continued her writing career into the early 2000s. Her 1994 publication, The Politics of Cruelty: An Essay on the Literature of Political Imprisonment, exposed state-endorsed torture practices worldwide.

Millett attracted attention due to a contentious appearance on the UK television program After Dark, where actor Oliver Reed, intoxicated during filming, made inappropriate advances toward her. Although she resisted his behavior, Millett later reportedly requested a recording of the broadcast. Throughout the program, Reed used sexist language.

She remained deeply involved in prison reform initiatives and anti-torture advocacy. Journalist Maureen Freely highlighted Millett’s forthright activism style in later years: "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.'" In 2012, The Women's Art Colony Farm was converted into a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3), renamed the Millett Center for the Arts.

Feminism

Millett emerged as a key figure during second-wave feminism throughout the 1960s and 1970s. She became involved with early lesbian-feminist organizations such as CR One but identified as bisexual by 1970. In 1966, she joined the committee of the National Organization for Women and later affiliated with groups including New York Radical Women and Radicalesbians.

Her essay "Sexual politics (in literature)" appeared in the seminal 1970 anthology Sisterhood Is Powerful: An Anthology of Writings from the Women's Liberation Movement. Following her groundbreaking book Sexual Politics (1970), Millett gained prominence as a feminist spokesperson but faced critiques regarding perceived elitism and pressures to represent others—issues she addressed in her 1974 work Flying.

Millett was among the pioneers defining patriarchy as an institutionalized system enforcing female oppression, advocating for profound personal and familial lifestyle reforms that contrasted with contemporaries like Betty Friedan, who concentrated on political and economic empowerment.

Her 1979 publication The Basement: Meditations on a Human Sacrifice analyzed Sylvia Likens’ torture and murder through a feminist perspective, delving into abuse dynamics. Biographer Roberta M. Hooks regarded it as a compelling examination of cruelty and submission. Millett interpreted the perpetrator’s actions as indicative of broader societal mechanisms suppressing women.

In 1979, Millett traveled to Tehran alongside Canadian journalist Sophie Keir under the Committee for Artistic and Intellectual Freedom to support Iranian women's rights amid Ayatollah Khomeini’s repressive regime. They witnessed violent clashes during International Women's Day protests, were briefly detained by authorities, and subsequently expelled due to concerns over Millett’s sexual orientation. She recounted this experience in her 1982 book Going to Iran. Additionally, Millett appears in the feminist documentary film She's Beautiful When She's Angry (2014).

Sexual Politics

Released in 1970 and derived from Millett's doctoral thesis at Columbia University, Sexual Politics became a bestseller critiquing patriarchal structures within Western culture and literature. The book analyzes the presence of sexism and heterosexism in the writings of novelists such as D. H. Lawrence, Henry Miller, and Norman Mailer, while juxtaposing these perspectives with the dissenting voice of the openly gay author Jean Genet. Millett contended that oppression based on sex operates both politically and culturally, asserting that transforming the conventional family model is essential for achieving sexual liberation. Within its first year, the book sold 80,000 copies, underwent seven print runs, and emerged as a foundational text for the women's liberation movement.

On August 31, 1970, Millett appeared on the cover of Time magazine in an article entitled "The Politics of Sex," which lauded Sexual Politics for articulating a cohesive feminist framework. The cover image was painted by artist Alice Neel.

Biographer Peter Manso observed that Norman Mailer’s The Prisoner of Sex was crafted as a direct rebuttal to Sexual Politics. Andrew Wilson characterized Mailer’s work as a polemical effort designed to challenge Millett’s theses through satire and self-mockery.

Sexism and Sexual Identity

During a lecture on sexual liberation at Columbia University, Millett was questioned about her sexual orientation and reluctantly acknowledged that she identified as a lesbian. Shortly thereafter, a Time article reported her as bisexual, which some critics believed could weaken her feminist standing due to prevalent stereotypes dismissing liberation advocates as lesbians. In reaction, lesbian feminists Ivy Bottini and Barbara Love convened a press conference in Greenwich Village, culminating in a declaration of support from 30 lesbian and feminist leaders advocating for homosexual liberation within a sexist culture.

Millett’s 1971 film Three Lives, produced entirely by women under the banner of Women's Liberation Cinema, portrays the life experiences of three women. The production earned mostly positive critiques; The New York Times reviewer Vincent Canby commended its candid depiction of women confronting male-dominated societal norms. Following the film’s release, three crew members initiated legal action against Millett over profit distribution; although she represented herself emotionally in court, the ruling favored the plaintiffs, resulting in Millett paying only a portion of the profits.

In her 1971 publication The Prostitution Papers, Millett argued that prostitution reveals women's subjugation more transparently than marriage contracts do, emphasizing that it is degradation and control—not sexual activity—that are exchanged. She called for decriminalization efforts to be led by sex workers themselves.

Millett authored two autobiographical works in 1974 and 1977. Flying (1974) is a stream-of-consciousness memoir delving into her bisexual identity and life following the acclaim of Sexual Politics, described by The New York Times Book Review as "a dazzling exhibition." Her later book Sita (1977) explores her sexuality alongside the profound effect of her lesbian partner’s suicide on her personal journey. Additionally, Millett participated in CR One, recognized as the first lesbian-feminist consciousness-raising collective, alongside Sidney Abbott, Phyllis Birkby, Alma Routsong, and Artemis March.

Perspectives on Pedophilia

In a conversation with Mark Blasius, Millett conveyed a sympathetic stance toward intergenerational sexual relations, criticizing age of consent statutes as particularly restrictive for gay male youth, while calling for a wider reevaluation of children's rights. She maintained that "one of the fundamental rights of children is to express their sexuality, likely mainly with peers but also with adults," positioning sexual liberty for children within the context of a sexual revolution and underscoring ongoing societal inequalities. Millett opposed attempts to repeal age-of-consent laws when justified solely by men's entitlement to engage sexually with minors, highlighting the neglect of female same-sex relationships in these discussions.

Mother Millett

Kate Millett’s 2001 publication Mother Millett recounts her mother Helen’s health challenges late in life, including a brain tumor and hypercalcaemia. During visits in Minnesota, they engaged in conversations about their relationship and enjoyed shared excursions. When Helen lost the ability to live independently, she was admitted to a nursing facility in St. Paul, which she greatly feared. Troubled by the quality of care and her mother’s demoralization—particularly the use of restraints on residents labeled as having "behavioral issues"—Kate assumed the role of primary caregiver, advocating vigorously for Helen’s autonomy and respect.

Pat Swift characterized Kate as a tireless advocate who refused to let her mother "fade quietly into that good night," reflecting Millett’s enduring commitment to activism. Despite Helen’s previous role in having Kate institutionalized years before, Kate extracted her mother from the nursing home to reside in her own apartment under professional care. Throughout this period, Millett was known for being exacting toward both her mother and caregivers, demonstrating her dedication to preserving quality of life.

Relationships

Millett did not embody the "polite, middle-class girl" stereotype common to her era; her forthrightness and unwavering determination helped establish her as a pioneering radical feminist during the 1970s but also complicated personal connections. She authored multiple autobiographical works characterized by unflinching honesty about herself, her spouse, lovers, and family members. This openness sometimes generated friction, notably with her mother Helen, who was distressed by Millett’s candid exploration of her bisexuality and family issues in her writings. Familial tensions deepened following Millett’s involuntary psychiatric hospitalizations and the publication of The Loony Bin Trip.

In Mother Millett, Kate addressed Helen’s deteriorating health and substandard nursing home conditions after being alerted by her sister Sally. She relocated Helen to an apartment supported by caregivers to enhance her quality of life. The book offers an unvarnished look at family dynamics, aging, and mental health while revealing moments of forgiveness and respect. During this time, Kate developed an unexpectedly close bond with her mother, which she described as "a miracle and a grace." Although relations with her sisters remained strained, they cooperated in supporting their mother’s new living situation. Nonetheless, some critics argue that Kate’s depiction as the central figure in Mother Millett may have diminished recognition of her siblings’ contributions.

Marriage

In 1961, Millett relocated to Japan, where she encountered fellow sculptor Fumio Yoshimura. Two years later, in 1963, the couple moved to New York City's Lower East Side, specifically the Bowery neighborhood. They wed in 1965 primarily to prevent Yoshimura’s deportation, with Millett describing their bond as one of both friendship and romance. She dedicated her influential work Sexual Politics to him. According to author Estelle C. Jelinek, during their marriage, Yoshimura "loved her, pursued his own artistic endeavors, and accepted her female partners." Their marriage ended in divorce in 1985. At the time of Millett’s passing, she had recently married Sophie Keir, her companion of 39 years.

Mental illness

Beginning in 1973, Millett’s mental health began to significantly affect both her activism and academic career at the University of California, Berkeley. Due to concerns over her intense emotional fluctuations and erratic conduct—such as insomnia and disorganized speech—her family arranged for her involuntary hospitalization on two occasions. She was diagnosed with manic depression (currently known as bipolar disorder), a condition that influenced her professional reputation and job prospects. Medical professionals prescribed lithium to stabilize her mood swings, which she resumed taking during periods of severe depression triggered by housing difficulties and marital stress.

In 1980, supported by friends and Sophie Keir, Millett discontinued lithium treatment aiming to enhance mental clarity and minimize side effects; however, she experienced withdrawal symptoms that disrupted her surroundings. Efforts to have her confined again were unsuccessful due to New York’s legal protections. Later that year, while on an activist mission in Ireland, she was involuntarily hospitalized based on information provided by New York authorities. During this period, she resisted heavy medication through various methods until eventually being declared competent and released with assistance from friends and Irish health professionals.

After returning to the United States, Millett restarted lithium but ceased its use again in 1986 without negative consequences—a decision that surprised those close to her. Her encounters with psychiatric treatment led to multiple suicide attempts fueled both by the physical and emotional burdens of therapy and the stigma associated with psychiatric diagnoses, which jeopardized her career and sense of self. In The Loony Bin Trip, Millett articulated that depression was the most dreaded aspect of her illness—characterized by profound hopelessness and societal rejection—whereas mania, if embraced, could be harnessed productively.

Views on mental illness

Feminist historian and author Marilyn Yalom observed that Millett "rejects the labels that would brand her as insane," emphasizing how she endured harsh judgment for behaviors she considered rational.

Activism

Driven by dissatisfaction with psychiatric institutions and lenient involuntary commitment regulations, Millett became an advocate for reform. Working alongside her attorney, she contributed to amending Minnesota’s commitment laws to mandate a trial prior to involuntary hospitalization.

As an active participant in the anti-psychiatry movement, Millett represented MindFreedom International at the United Nations during the 2005 deliberations on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, where she spoke out against psychiatric torture.

In 1978, she became a member of the Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press (WIFP), a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving communication among women and supporting media created by women.

Bowery redevelopment

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Millett resisted New York City's initiative to remove tenants from her Bowery home as part of an extensive redevelopment plan. Despite her opposition, the structure was ultimately torn down, and its occupants were displaced.

Scholarship

Kristan Poirot, in the work Mediating a Movement, Authorizing Discourse, highlights the publication of Millett's Sexual Politics (1970) as a defining event in the rise of second-wave feminism. Although earlier landmarks such as the establishment of the National Organization for Women and Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique held importance, 1970 saw a surge in media focus, notably with widespread coverage of the Women's Strike for Equality. Millett integrated insights from psychology, anthropology, the sexual revolution, and literary analysis to contend that Western culture is fundamentally structured around male dominance. Her book received extensive attention and is regarded as the inaugural comprehensive articulation of radical feminist theory during the second wave. Public revelations about Millett's lesbian identity sparked divisions within feminist circles and lessened her influence as an activist; by late 1970, she described herself as bisexual. Critic Camille Paglia challenged Millett’s scholarship, arguing it overly politicized art and weakened rigorous literary critique.

Millett’s memoirs Flying (1974) and Sita (1977) delve into her journey of coming out, stressing communication as a means to combat solitude. While Flying recounts several romantic relationships, Sita offers a more profound portrayal of a lesbian partnership and associated anxieties, reflecting common experiences among women who love women.

Her book Going to Iran (1979), complemented by Sophie Keir’s photographs, captures Iranian feminist demonstrations opposing the fundamentalist changes under Khomeini. It stands as a rare firsthand narrative documenting significant moments in Iranian women’s history from a Western feminist viewpoint.

Death

Millett passed away due to cardiac arrest in Paris on September 6, 2017, just eight days before turning 83. Her partner Sophie Keir was present at her passing.

Awards and honors

In 2001, Millett was honored with the Best Books Award by Library Journal for Mother Millett. She received the Courage Award for the Arts from Yoko Ono in 2012, celebrating artists who embody truthfulness and bravery in their creations. Between 2011 and 2012, she was also awarded the Lambda Pioneer Award for Literature along with a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists award. At a 2011 Veteran Feminists of America event, she was recognized alongside notable feminists including Susan Brownmiller and Gloria Steinem.

Millett was inducted into the U.S. National Women's Hall of Fame in March 2013; board co-president Beverly P. Ryder described her as "a true cornerstone of the women's movement." The official induction ceremony occurred on October 24, 2013, in Seneca Falls, New York.

Books

Comprehensive list of books with initial publication details

Title	First edition information
	Year	Publisher
Sexual Politics	1970	Doubleday
The Prostitution Papers: A Candid Dialogue	1973	Avon
Flying	1974	Alfred A. Knopf
Sita	1977	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
The Basement: Meditations on a Human Sacrifice	1979	Simon & Schuster
Going to Iran	1982	Coward, McCann & Geoghegan
The Loony-Bin Trip	1990	Simon & Schuster
The Politics of Cruelty: An Essay on the Literature of Political Imprisonment	1994	W. W. Norton & Company
A.D., A Memoir	1995	W. W. Norton & Company
Mother Millett	2001	Verso Books

Other publications

Title	Year	Publication
Journal chapters
"Sexual Politics: A Manifesto for Revolution"	1970	Firestone, Shulamith; Koedt, Anne (eds.). Notes from the Second Year: Women's Liberation. New York Radical Women. pp. 111–112.
Book chapters
"The Prostitution Papers: A Quarter for Female Voice"	1971	Gornick, Vivian; Moran, Barbara K. (eds.). Woman in Sexist Society: Studies in Power and Powerlessness. Basic Books.
"Introduction"	1979	Holder, Maryse. Give Sorrow Words: Maryse Holder's Letters from Mexico. Grove Press.
"From the Basement to the Madhouse"	1997	O'Dell, Kathy (ed.). Kate Millett, Sculptor: The First 38 Years. University of Maryland, Baltimore County. pp. 41–50.
"The Illusion of Mental Illness"	2007	Stastny, Peter; Lehmann, Peter (eds.). Alternatives Beyond Psychiatry. Peter Lehmann Publishing. pp. 29–38.
"Preface"	2014	Burstow, Bonnie; LeFrancois, Brenda; Diamond, Shaindl (eds.). Psychiatry Disrupted: Theorizing Resistance and Crafting the Revolution. McGill/Queen's University Press.

• 1968 – "Token Learning: A Study of Women's Higher Education in America". New York: National Organization for Women.
• 1998 – "Out of the Loop". On the Issues.

Exhibitions

Significant exhibitions and installations include:

• 1963 – Minami Gallery, Tokyo
• 1967 – Group show, 12 Evenings of Manipulation, Judson Gallery, New York City
• 1968 – Situations, Brooklyn Community College, New York
• 1970 – The American Dream Goes to Pot, The People's Flag Show, Phoenix Art Museum; Judson Memorial Church, New York
• 1972 – Terminal Piece, Women's Interart Center, New York
• 1973 – Small Mysteries, Womanstyle Theatre Festival, New York
• 1977 – Naked Ladies, Los Angeles Women's Building, California; Solo exhibition, Andre Wauters Gallery, New York; The Lesbian Body, Chuck Levitan Gallery, New York
• 1978 – The Trial of Sylvia Likens, Noho Gallery, New York
• 1979 – Elegy for Sita, Noho Gallery, New York; Women's Caucus for Art event
• 1980 – Great American Lesbian Art Show (group), Los Angeles; Solo exhibition titled Lesbian Erotica, Galerie de Ville, New Orleans; Second Floor Salon
• 1981 – Solo exhibition of Lesbian Erotica, Galerie des Femmes, Paris
• 1986 – Group exhibition called Feminists and Misogynists, Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle
• 1988 – Included in Fluxus, Museum of Modern Art, New York
• 1991–1994 – Exhibited at Courtland Jessup Gallery, Provincetown, Massachusetts; Participated in group show Body Politic, La MaMa La Galleria (1992); Presented solo exhibition titled Freedom from Captivity, Courtland Jessup Gallery (1991)
• 1997 – Exhibition titled Kate Millett, Sculptor: The First 38 Years, Fine Arts Gallery, University of Maryland, Catonsville
• 2009 – Participated in multimedia exhibition Black Madonna featuring 41 artists at HP Garcia Gallery, New York

Film

• 1971: Three Lives (documentary) – Producer, Women's Liberation Cinema Company
• 1981: Not a Love Story: A Film About Pornography (documentary) – Writer, artist, National Film Board of Canada
• 1989: Bookmark: Daughters of de Beauvoir (biographical, 1 episode) – Appeared as Herself, BBC/Union Pictures
• 1998: Playboy: The Story of X (documentary) – Featured as Herself, Calliope Films/Playboy Entertainment Group
• 2001: The Real Yoko Ono (television) – Appeared as Herself
• 2007: Des fleurs pour Simone de Beauvoir (short documentary, France) – Featured as Herself

Further reading

• Crawford, Leslie. "Kate Millett, The Ambivalent Feminist," Salon, June 5, 1999
• Freely, Maureen. "Return of the troublemaker," The Guardian, June 19, 2001
• Krestesen, Mikaela & Moa. A Piece of Land: Voices, Photographs, Bits, Pieces from Kate Millett Farm, Konst-ig, 2014
• Pickering, Amy (ed.). Life after the Revolution: Kate Millett's Art Colony for Women, Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art/SUNY Press, 2021
• Sage, Lorna. The Cambridge Guide to Women's Literature in English, Cambridge University Press, 1999
• Simmons, William J. "Conversations with Kate Millett," Harvard Independent, December 1, 2011
• Time staff. "The Liberation of Kate Millett," Time Magazine, August 30, 1970

External links

• Guide to the Kate Millett Papers at Duke University