A Fantastical Politics: Beyond the Boundaries

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In Folder: Gender & Cultural Studies, MA

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A Fantastical Politics: Beyond the Boundaries

Boucher, Rikki - Thesis

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title: A Fantastical Politics: Beyond the Boundaries

creator: Boucher, Rikki

subject: Academic theses.

description: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the power and politics of sexual desire. The important ethical question is how should sexual fantasy modify our political notions and our lived reality? Sexual fantasy and desire are implicated in who we are and should be recognized as important variables informing our motives, actions and reasoning. I argue that traditional logocentric liberal ideology diminishes our ability to develop a political theory informed by collective sexual fantasy and desire. Further, there are examples within the BDSM community that illustrate how sexuality can be cultivated as a political resource.This paper illustrates how BDSM practice and queer theory challenges traditional liberalism as a mode of political analysis. In so doing, it offers a conceptualization of sexual fantasy as a powerful political resource. Three aspects of traditional liberal ideology are challenged by a queer BDSM model of sexuality. First, the concept of consent is expanded within the BDSM subculture. Second, the functional myth of the private/public dichotomy is challenged by queer notions of radical interconnectedness . Finally, a juridical understanding of power and traditional appeals for liberation are challenged by female masochism. Each of these challenges illustrates sexual fantasy and desire as powerful resources within political theoretical understandings.

publisher: Simmons College (Boston, Mass.)

contributor:

date: 2017

type: Text

format: 1 PDF (27 Pages)

identifier: td_gcs_2017_rb

source:

language: English

relation:

coverage:

rights: Material from the Simmons University Archives collections are made available for study purposes only. For more information, or to request rights to reproduce or reuse any material, contact the University Archives at archives@simmons.edu.

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