Acknowledged as a leading social critic and educator, she came to prominence in 1990 after publishing the highly acclaimed book Sexual Personae. Her other works include Sex, Art, and American Culture and the 1994 collection Vamps and Tramps, which dealt with such celebrities as Bill and Hillary Clinton. Her latest book on poetry Break, Blow, Burn has also met with critical and commercial success. She is currently a professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and writes a political column for Salon.com.