Susan Griffin
Susan Griffin (born January 26, 1943) is a radical feminist philosopher, essayist and playwright[1] particularly known for her innovative, hybrid-form ecofeminist works.
Life
Griffin was born in Los Angeles, California, USA in 1943[1] and has resided in California since then. She currently lives in Berkeley, California.[2]
Work
Griffin describes her work as "draw[ing] connections between the destruction of nature, the diminishment of women and racism, and trac[ing] the causes of war to denial in both private and public life."[2]
Griffin articulated her anti-pornography feminism in "Pornography and Silence: Culture's Revenge Against Nature".[3] In this work she makes the case that although the pursuit of "political freedom", especially freedom of speech, could lead to a position against the censorship of pornography, in the case of pornography the freedom to create pornography leads to a compromise of "human liberation" when this term includes liberation for all of humankind including the emancipation of women. She argues against the collapse of pornography and eros, arguing that they are separate and opposing ideas.[4][5]
In addition to her many published writings, Griffin co-wrote and narrated the award-winning 1990 documentary, Berkeley in the Sixties.
Awards
Griffin has received a MacArthur grant for Peace and International Cooperation, an NEA Fellowship, and an Emmy Award for the play Voices. She is featured in the 2014 feminist history film She's Beautiful When She's Angry.[6]
Writings (1967 to present)
- Woman and Nature: the Roaring Inside Her (1978) Ecofeminist treatise
- Rape: The Power of Consciousness (1979)
- Pornography and Silence: Culture's Revenge Against Nature (1981) Sociological aspects of pornography
- "Sadomasochism and the erosion of self: a critical reading of Story of O," in Against Sadomasochism: A Radical Feminist Analysis, ed. Robin Ruth Linden (East Palo Alto, Calif. : Frog in the Well, 1982.), pp. 183–201
- Unremembered Country: poems (Copper Canyon Press, 1987)
- A Chorus of Stones: the Private Life of War (1993) Psychological aspects of violence, war, womanhood
- The Eros of Everyday Life: Essays on Ecology, Gender and Society (1995)
- Bending Home: Selected New Poems, 1967-1998 (Copper Canyon Press, 1998)
- What Her Body Thought: a Journey into the Shadows (1999)
- The Book of the Courtesans: a Catalogue of Their Virtues (2001)
- Wrestling with the Angel of Democracy: On Being an American Citizen (2008)
- Transforming Terror: Remembering the Soul of the World, co-edited with Karen Lofthus Carrington (University of California Press, 2011)
References
- 1 2 "Susan Griffin". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
- 1 2 "Bio – Susan Griffin". susangriffin.com. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
- ↑ Willis, Ellen. "NATURE'S REVENGE". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
- ↑ Tonella, Karla. "Susan Griffin Pornography and Silence: transcript of KPFA broadcast". bailiwick @ the university of iowa libraries. The University of Iowa. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
- ↑ Griffin, Susan. "Pornography and Silence: Culture's Revenge Against Nature". Harper & Row. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
- ↑ "'She's Beautiful When She's Angry' Tells The Feminist History Left Out Of Your School Textbook". The Huffington Post. 2014-12-15. Retrieved 2017-03-04.