SECTION ONE

Sexuality and Subjectivity

This Section will explore the concept of subjectivity in relation to the Politics of Ecstasy, and how the politics of masculine authority has established men's sexual subjectivity in terms of a power-relation over women. The psychology of the Erotomaniac - men who are defined by their desire to dominate and sexually manipulate women - will be examined, and death and necrophilia will be discussed as metaphors of the ways in which masculine sexuality objectifies and dominates women. The novels discussed in this Section may be interpreted as simply validating a phallocentric sexual politics, but it is equally possible to perceive in these narratives a critique of the patriarchal politics which they depict. A Post-Porn/Modern reading subverts the textual validation of phallic masculine sexuality, and allows other sexualities, especially those traditionally marginalised in the texts, to be explored.


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