And the feminist writer and activist Andrea Dworkin has died at the age of 58. She was best known for her feminist critique of pornography which she first outlined in her book Women Hating. She was the author of over a dozen books on pornography and violence against women. In 1983 she helped a drafted a law that defined pornography as a civil rights violation against women. The law was passed in Indianapolis in 1983, but was overturned by an appeals court two years later. She often argued that pornography was a precursor to rape. She said in 1986, “Pornography is used in rape–to plan it, to execute it, to choreograph it, to engender the excitement to commit the act.” Gloria Steinem said of Dworkin, “In every century, there are a handful of writers who help the human race to evolve. Andrea is one of them.” Four years ago the Guardian newspaper described her like this: “Dworkin is a threat, of course, to exactly the extent that radical feminists have always posed a threat–pointing out unapologetically the degree to which violence against women and children by men remains rampant.” Dworkin died on Saturday at her home in Washington.