Dorothy Dinnerstein was an American feminist academic and activist. She is best known for her book The Mermaid and the Minotaur (1976), which was published in the UK under the title The Rocking of the Cradle and the Ruling of the World (1987). Applying elements of Freudian psychoanalysis, particularly as developed by Melanie Klein, Dinnerstein argued that sexism and aggression are the inevitable consequences of leaving childrearing to women. She proposed an equal sharing of childcare duties between men and women as a solution.