ABSTRACT

Sexuality and sexual politics have been much debated over the last 20 years and feminists, in particular, have been responsible for politicising the debate, pointing out how something which is usually regarded as private and personal is, in fact, a public and political issue. This text illustrates the diversity and excitement of debates about sexuality in women's studies and feminism today, and points to new paths for feminist analysis, thinking and action. In particular, heterosexuality can no longer be taken for granted and must, along with other forms of sexuality, be explicitly addressed. The volume is divided into three sections: "Analysing (Hetero)sexuality" is concerned with exploring some of the complexities of the material aspects of sexual relations between men and women; "Media Discourses of Sexuality" contains analyses derived from women's magazines, television and newspapers; and "Practising Sexual Politics" focuses on the reflexive awareness of sexual politics in the framing of methodological issues in research.

chapter |9 pages

Introduction

A Context for (Hetero)sexual Politics

part |72 pages

Analysing (Hetero)sexuality

chapter |17 pages

Gender and Heterosexuality

A Materialist Feminist Analysis

chapter |16 pages

Back to Basics

Heterosexuality, Biology and Why Men Stay on Top

chapter |13 pages

Prostitution

Problematizing the Definition

part |44 pages

Media Discourses of Sexuality

chapter |15 pages

‘Freedom From' or ‘Freedom to'…?

Contemporary Identities in Women's Magazines

chapter |15 pages

‘Women Warriors'

Representations of Women Soldiers in British Daily Newspaper Reports of the Gulf War (January to March 1991)

part |79 pages

Practising Sexual Politics

chapter |14 pages

Writing Women's Friendship

An Intimate Experience?

chapter |21 pages

Journeying with Jeanette

Transgressive Travels in Winterson's Fiction

chapter |12 pages

Lesbian Studies

An Opportunity Not To Be Missed

chapter |16 pages

The Micropolitics of Women's Studies

Feminism and Organizational Change in the Academy

chapter |15 pages

Self Preservation

Feminist Activism and Feminist Jurisprudence