ABSTRACT
Radical feminism emerged out of the feminist “second wave” of the 1960s and 1970s; it is considered “radical” because it calls for a complete dismantling of all systems of male domination be they social, political, or economic. Radical feminism often focuses on the ways that heterosexual practices such as penile-vaginal intercourse, male-on-female sexual assault, mainstream pornography, and prostitution reflect and reproduce male dominance. Sex-positive, post-structural, and other “third-wave” feminists have critiqued radical feminism as essentialist, as relying on an overly simplistic view of gender and sex binaries, as well as not placing enough emphasis on female sexual agency. These criticisms demand serious consideration. Some criticisms of radical feminism, however, over-simplify the radical feminist positions they are arguing against. Others sidestep the important political concerns that radical feminists were trying to address in the first place. This chapter refuses polarized feminist positions and argues for a nuanced approach to the politics of heterosexuality that neither rejects radical feminism outright nor embraces it indiscriminately.
