ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how a theorisation of sexuality enhances our understanding of the research participant's constructions of the figure of the feminist. It shows that feminists were frequently portrayed as unfeminine, man-hating, and lesbian; it employs the insights of queer theory to argue that heterosexual conventions structure imaginations of the feminist. The re-conceptualisation of the trope of the feminist as a constitutive outside of heterosexual norms, but also as a sticky sign, shed light on the affective processes involved in repudiations of feminism. The research participant's statements paralleled the trend towards depicting femininity as a physical characteristic. The heteronormative imperative that one must desire a different gender from that with which one identifies provides a foil for analysing the chain of associations between being feminist, anti-men, unfeminine and lesbian. The construction of the feminist as unfeminine, man-hating and lesbian cites heteronormative logic and resonates with Chambers view of heteronormativity as insisting on coherence between sex, gender and desire.
