Hilary Lips was born June 17, 1949. She is a feminist scholar and psychologist. Lips earned her bachelors degree in Psychology from the University of Windsor in 1970, during which time she first read The Feminine Mystique which she has credited as the spark of her feminist development. She continued her studies at Northwestern University, earning a M.A. and Ph.D. in Social Psychology in 1973 and 1974 respectively. During her time at Northwestern, Lips was an active member of the Women’s Liberation Movement and helped found the Evanston Women’s Liberation Center (EWLC), taking inspiration from the Chicago Women’s Liberation Union. The EWLC began by holding meetings in the basements of its members, until a church gave them permanent office space. The center worked to support women running for public office, including Shirley Chisolm, fighting for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), opening a free legal clinic in Evanston, and more. The legal clinic mostly provided legal help for women with marital questions or issues.
Lips left Evanston after graduation to become a professor of Psychology at several different universities, including the University of Winnipeg, University of Manitoba, and Ratford University. She has authored several books on gender and power including multiple textbooks: The Psychology of Sex Differences (1978), Women, Men and the Psychology of Power, Women, Men and Power (1981), A New Psychology of Women: Gender, Culture and Ethnicity (1991), A New Psychology of Women: Gender, Culture and Ethnicity (2016), Gender: The Basics, Sex & Gender: An Introduction(2020), and Women across Cultures(2021).