ABSTRACT
The problem of coercion that Weber discovers in relationships of erotic love is inherent
in any form of social life. Hence, all cultures must have some way of reconciling the
offensive, imposing, coercive character of self-expression with the need and desire for
social contact and social attachment. Such reconciliation constitutes the essence of
sociability. This chapter develops a feminist model of erotic love as sociability that
contrasts with Weber’s patriarchal model of erotic love as coercion.
