Sexual Politics is the debut book by American writer and activist Kate Millett, based on her PhD dissertation at Columbia University. It was published in 1970 by Doubleday. It is regarded as a classic of feminism and one of radical feminism's key texts, a formative piece in shaping the intentions of the second-wave feminist movement. In Sexual Politics, an explicit focus is placed on male dominance throughout prominent 20th century art and literature. According to Millett, Western literature reflects patriarchal constructions and the heteronormativity of society. She argues that men have established power over women, but that this power is the result of social constructs rather than innate or biological qualities.^{[citation needed]}

The book begins by quoting Henry Miller and Norman Mailer. Millett examines sex scenes by both authors in which a male main character seduces a compliant woman who is insatiably hungry for sex, then humiliates, beats, sexually assaults, or murders the women.

Millett argues that the scenes have political undertones. By punishing women for their sexuality the male characters enforce the rules of patriarchy, which Millett defines as "the birthright priority whereby males rule females." She feels these male characters are stand-ins for the authors themselves, whom she feels are mired in violent sexual myths designed to maintain men as a ruling class. In contrast, she applauds the writer Jean Genet for writing queer sex scenes that critically examine these myths. Genet's work points to the "sick delirium of power and violence" that must be analyzed if society is to achieve sexual liberation.

These literary scenes serves as examples of what Millett names "sexual politics." She clarifies that she does not mean politics in the narrow sense of political parties and elections. Instead, politics describes any situation in which one group of people has power over another.

Millett points to her observation that the military, the police, political offices, science fields, etc., are populated almost exclusively by men. Even the concept of God is typically portrayed as male. Because men hold all these positions of power, they dominate the relationship between the sexes; women are subordinate. Men are rewarded in life for adopting an attitude of dominance, whereas women are encouraged to be passive and ignorant. This training makes patriarchy appear natural, as though it were determined by biology, when in fact it is a social convention or a political relationship.

The rest of the book is largely her literary reflections of different authors and books, including Lady Chatterley's Lover and others.

Millett makes the claim that romantic love disguises the mismatch in power between men and women, but it leaves women vulnerable to emotional exploitation. As evidence, she points to the fact that women tend to have less economic power than men, and make less income. Millett says we don't often consider the ways that outright force is used to uphold patriarchy, yet this is the purpose of sexual violence, which is common.

Millett often critiques the sexual revolution of the 1960s, arguing that it did not bring about true liberation for women as intended. She explores how traditional gender roles persisted despite changes in sexual behavior and norms. She later delves into the history and politics of sexuality, which is where she discusses how sexual pleasure has been defined and controlled throughout history by men and their expectations for women.