turpin@cs.utexas.EDU (Russell Turpin) (05/10/91)
----- In article <1991May6.151523.48109@ccvax.ucd.ie> scross@ccvax.ucd.ie writes: >> I have never heard anyone, feminist or other, say that S&M is sexist, In article <673742644@lear.cs.duke.edu> gazit@duke.cs.duke.edu (Hillel Gazit) writes: > Here is a quote from "Against Our Will" by Susan Brownmiller: [omitted]. > ... the bottom line is obvious: to achieve women's liberation > feminists like Brownmiller should decide what is the Politically > Correct way for gay *men* to have consensual sex. ----- Partly in response to the book "Coming to Power", edited by Samois (a now defunct lesbian S&M organization), a group of feminist writers wrote some essays and collected these together with some existing ones under the title "Against Sadomasochism: A Radical Feminist Analysis", ed. Robin Ruth Linden, et al, ISBN 0-9603628-3-5, published (1982) by Frog in the Well, P O Box 170052, San Francisco, 94117. Some passages from the introduction are excerpted below. Since at least 1976, there has been debate among feminists about the politics of sadomasochism. ... Throughout "Against Sadomasochism", it is argued that lesbian sadomasochism is firmly rooted in patriarchal sexual ideology, with its emphasis on the fragmentation of desire fromthe rest of our lives and the single-minded pursuit of gratification, sexual and otherwise. ... The editors and contributors to "Against Sadomasochism" do not dispute sadomasochists' right to engage in what sexual practices they choose. It is not our wish to limit them by legislative or juridicial means. Instead, we believe that the ideological grounds of the defense of sadomasochism are invalid. The feminist defense of sadomasochism pivots on the apparent consensuality of sadomasochistic sexual encounters. ... However, I take the view, along with other feminists who oppose the practice of sadomasochism, that the psychological reality of "consensual" sadomasochism is so abstracted from the actual social and historical conditions that shape human relationships and erotic desire as to be virtually meaningless. ... The book includes essays by Ti-Grace Atkinson, Alice Walker, Robin Morgan, and Susan Griffin. There is one essay by a former sadomasochist who writes about S&M much as an ex-alky does about demon rum. Ms Griffin contributes a literary criticism of "The Story of O". For humor, the book includes a short piece on hankerchief codes, complete with cartoon. It has been a couple of years since I read most of the essays, but to my recollection, the substantive ones build on the themes adumbrated in the introduction: S&M is either the result of unfortunate personal history or the integration of sick societal structures, and its practice tends to propagate the problems that give rise to it. In my opinion, the substance is thin, and occasionally uninformed. Nevertheless, if one is interested in feminist writing against S&M, this is probably the book to have on your shelf. Russell