(born 1947), U.S. scholar and author, born in Endicott, N.Y.; controversial feminist and critic of feminism; graduated from State Univ. of N.Y.'s Harpur College in 1968; Ph.D. in English from Yale Univ. in 1974; taught at Bennington College 1972–80; subsequently taught at Wesleyan Univ., Yale, and Univ. of New Haven, before joining the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts (now the Univ. of Arts) in 1984; noted for her book ‘Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson' (1990), which began as doctoral dissertation; was refused publication for 9 years until Yale Univ. Press accepted it; eventually made best-seller lists; championed reform of education by a return to literary classics; favored abolishing feminist studies; published ‘Sex, Art, and American Culture' in 1992.