Letter: No computer, no list of enemies and no 'non-genital man'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.I WOULD like to correct some wrong and misleading information about me in Zoe Heller's profile 'The New Eve'.
1. I don't have a computer and I don't keep a list of enemies, even by hand. There are some people who have written about me in the past that I don't want to speak to. This seems reasonable to me.
2. I have never referred to my friend John Stoltenberg as a 'non-genital man'.
3. I have never used my personal history as a way of evading political debate. In 20 years I have written very little autobiographical non-fiction. With respect to John Irving's pro-free speech article in the New York Times, I did directly address his lame and condescending argument, which was that those of us who oppose pornography are ignorant, puritanical and philistine.
4. The civil rights ordinance developed by Catharine A MacKinnon and myself in Minneapolis in 1983 has never been argued before the US Supreme Court. A circuit appeals court found a different version of it (passed in Indianapolis) unconstitutional once, which technically is binding only in that jurisdiction.
5. There are mistakes about the biographical details of my life, including the chronology.
6. Ms Heller repeats her opinion of Mercy as 'mad, bad'. As a liberal feminist she probably believes in repression and the subconscious. So let's finish the quote: 'mad, bad and dangerous to know'. I'd say there is a lot of meaning in the unspoken part.
Andrea Dworkin
Brooklyn, New York
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments