Catharine MacKinnon Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Catharine MacKinnon (born 1946) is an American feminist and lawyer. She was educated at Smith College (B.A, 1968), Yale Law School (J.D, 1977) and Yale University Graduate School (Ph.D in political science, 1987). As of 2004, she is the Elizabeth A. Long Professor of Law at the University of Michigan and is also a long-term Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Chicago.MacKinnon, in the 1970s, was a pioneer in claiming that sexual harassment could be considered illegal discrimination and fall under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, this premise was not tested in court until the 1980s, in the Jenson v. Eveleth case.
In the 80s, in cooperation with Andrea Dworkin, she wrote ordinances for a law recognizing pornography as a violation of civil rights.
MacKinnon now works with litigation and legislation on women's human rights. She has, for example, represented women and children victims of Serbian genocidal sexual atrocities.