Traversing the Terrain of Indian Feminism and Indian Sexuality

1990

Cambridge University Press, 2020

Introduction The most significant recent development, a break with the past, in the study of sexual cultures has to do with the term ‘culture’ itself: that we think of sexuality (and sexualities) as having ‘cultures’. Historically, both in academic and popular thinking, the term ‘sexuality’ most frequently elicited responses that have to do with biology. That is, whether as an area of study or as a set of ideas people have about their intimate lives, sexuality was too easily detached from the social contexts where it belongs and presented as something of itself. There is a strong tendency to view our sexual lives as dictated by their own peculiar rules that ( a ) are biologically derived, ( b ) have been historically stable (that is, the same since the ‘dawn of time’), ( c ) are ‘essentially’ about our ‘private’ lives, and ( d ) are ‘basically’ the same across different cultures. Ironically, while, on the one hand, we think of sexuality as a world-untoitself – such that it is regard...

This two-day conference proposes to examine the history of conceptions of sexuality and of gender relations that have, explicitly or implicitly, been used in sexological “constructions” since the mid-19th century. The knowledge, theories and practices to which “sexology” refers imply specific conceptions of sexuality. Sexology is a social (and, above all, medical, psychological, psychiatric or even legal) response to the questions people ask about “their sexuality”. Its history has shifted from a “proto-sexology”, centered around perversions and deviancies, to a second phase with a focus on the “function of orgasm” and on sexual behaviors (Béjin 1982). Sexology is evolving with the emergence of “sexual medicine”, “sexual health” and “sexual rights”, trends that weigh on the reformulation of theories of sexuality. Papers will present material from medical, scientific or educational sources or from institutions involved in the medicalization of sexuality. The accepted papers will be grouped by subject, geographical area, historical period or historiographical approach as a function of the two-day program, and each group will be assigned a discussant who will Chair the session and open discussion of the papers presented. Abstracts and papers can be submitted and presented in English or French. There will not be official simultaneous translation during the conference. Participants are expected to understand both languages. Plans are in the works for editing the papers presented at the conference for a book to be published by a French publishing house specialized in multidisciplinary books.

Critical Survey, 2003

Drawing on the problem of imagining sexuality, paper comments on contemporary debates in feminism, psychoanalysis, and queer theory. Three theories are discussed: Jacqueline Rose’s feminist views on sexuality and vision; Julia Kristeva’s psychoanalytic orientation to sexuality as both a problem of language, narrative revolts and as a constitutive vulnerability; and, Eve Sedgwick’s imaginative axioms for sexuality as a problem for epistemology. While part one of the paper provides a theoretical lens for conceptualizing sexuality, the second part moves to problems of practices in research, study and pedagogy. Of special interest is how the ideas developed in the fields of queer theory, Feminism, and psychoanalysis proffer new ways to conceptualize the affective tensions between, on the one hand, sexuality and culture and on the other hand, between subjectivity and intersubjectivity. The paper concludes with an outline of three urgencies for research, pedagogy, and study.

Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice, 1988

The central aim of this paper is to argue that sex is an important area of study for philosophers, and that the present vitality of the philosophy of sex stems largely from the contributions of feminist thinkers. "Sex" refers to three distinct areas: gender sex, erotic sex, and sexual politics. In all these areas, prejudice and habit create difficulties in discussing sex; underlying those prejudices are some traditional models of the person in which sexuality threatens the real self. Feminist philosophy of sexuality involves critiques of those models, and of various forms of gender with them. RESUME Le but principal de cet expose est de fa ire valoir 1'importance pour les philosophes, des problemes de la philosophie de la sexualite, et parliculierement de la pensee feministe en ce domaine. "Sexualite" designe trois domaines distincts: la division des sexes, l'eroiisme, et les aspects politiques. Dans les trois domaines, les prejuges rendent difficiles la pensee aussi bien que le discours. Derriere ces prejuges, il y a des conceptions traditionnelles de la personnequi opposent la sexualite et le moi authentique. La philosophie feministe de la sexualite fait la critique de tels modeles, ainsi quede plusieurs formes d'essentialisme qui s'y rattachent.

2012

Mottier, V. 2012. The invention of sexuality. In Chic, chèque, choc. Transactions autour des corps et stratégies amoureuses contemporaines. 23-38. Actes des colloques genre et développement. Berne : DDC-Commission suisse pour l'UNESCO ; Genève : IHEID.

Jan Bremmer (ed) From Sappho to De Sade. Moments in the history of sexuality, London/NY Routledge 1989, pp. 173-193, 1991

Book, 1997

In this wide-ranging survey Joseph Bristow introduces readers to the most influential contemporary theories of sexual desire. Revealing how nineteenth-century scientists invented 'sexuality', he investigates why this term has been the source of such controversy in modern culture. Demonstrating the lasting influence of late-Victorian sexology, Sexu-ality turns a critical eye on many conflicting accounts of eroticism. Bristow shows why Freud and Lacan have been widely discussed within the fields of cultural studies, literary history and feminist theory. He explains the importance of Bataille, Baudrillard, Cixous, Deleuze, Irigaray and Kristeva, among many others. Analysing the work of Michel Foucault, Bristow considers how The History of Sexuality paved the way for queer theory in the 1990s. The conclusion looks at the decisive postmodern emphasis on erotic diversity. Presented in a clear and concise style, Sexuality makes complex theoretical ideas accessible to readers who wish to discover more about this exciting and rapidly developing field.