This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.
"Laser-cut writing and a stunning intellect. If only every writer made this much beautiful sense." â??Lisa Taddeo, author of Three Women "Amia Srinivasan is an unparalleled and extraordinary writerâ??no one X-rays an argument, a desire, a contradiction, a defense mechanism quite like her. In stripping the new politics of sex and power down to its fundamental and sometimes clashing principles, The Right to Sex is a bracing revivification of a crucial lineage in feminist writing: Srinivasan is daring, compassionate, and in relentless search of a new frame." â??Jia Tolentino, author of Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self Delusion Thrilling, sharp, and deeply humane, philosopher Amia Srinivasan's The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-First Century upends the way we discussâ??or avoid discussingâ??the problems and politics of sex. How should we think about sex? It is a thing we have and also a thing we do; a supposedly private act laden with public meaning; a personal preference shaped by outside forces; a place where pleasure and ethics can pull wildly apart. How should we talk about sex? Since #MeToo many have fixed on consent as the key framework for achieving sexual justice. Yet consent is a blunt tool. To grasp sex in all its complexityâ??its deep ambivalences, its relationship to gender, class, race and powerâ??we need to move beyond yes and no, wanted and unwanted. We do not know the future of sexâ??but perhaps we could imagine it. Amia Srinivasan's stunning debut helps us do just that. She traces the meaning of sex in our world, animated by the hope of a different world. She reaches back into an older feminist tradition that was unafraid to think of sex as a political phenomenon. She discusses a range of fraught relationshipsâ??between discrimination and preference, pornography and freedom, rape and racial injustice, punishment and accountability, students and teachers, pleasure and power, capitalism and liberation. The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-First Century is a provocation and a promise, transforming many of our most urgent political debates and asking what it… (more)
i loved this essay collection. thought provoking and absolutely something i'm going to have to go in for a second, slower, more intentional read (bummed i borrowed this from the library instead of buying it so i couldn't take notes or highlight). 'on not sleeping with your students', 'sex, carceralism, capitalism' and 'the right to sex' were the standout essays for me. ( )
A compilation of SIX extremely strong essays surrounding the politics and social aspects of sex, The Right to Sex talks about prostitution, rape, misogyny, adultery and several other wrapped up issues.
It is extremely well researched and stunningly written, not that anything less is expected from Amia Srinivasan.
I would be lying if I said that the read was a breeze. I did have to force myself through a few parts not just because I am not usually a non-fiction reader but also a few of the topics discussed were hard to get through.
I also had to pause and do my own research to be better informed. I had to take breaks in order to digest the information and read further.
I may not agree with everything that was said but we all have our different opinions on things as we experience them differently. However, I definitely feel better capable of judging things in a more informed manner.
'Talking to my students about porn' was the strongest of the 6 essays for me.
Thank you Bloomsbury India for the review copy. ( )
Ugh, this book is a perfect example of why I don't like philosophy. There's on the one hand, then on the other hand, then on a further hand. How do you help sex workers, abused women, or harassed students or workers? Everything you try ends up harming the poor, women of color, or immigrants. The ultimate solution is abolition - the abolition of policing and jails. In its place, we substitute guaranteed health care, housing, nutrition, and a liveable wage. Then in this utopia, there will be no need for crime. If you inhabit that utopia with robots, you'd be right. There would be no crime. Humans, on the other hand, just aren't perfectible. People devoted themselves to communism or Donald Trump because of ideals. Philosophy seems to be about unachievable ideals but has little to do with reality. ( )
I loved this series of five essays which holds feminism accountable for its failures and vagaries. Using specific examples, Srinivasan is able to show the ways in which intersectionality affects individuals. Among the themes that particularly held my attention: the way in which black men were overly negatively impacted by policies; the way economically disadvantaged and women of colour were left behind; the tension between personal preferences and political expression. It's not all finger pointing: the author gives credit where it is due and builds on the theories tested through the decades, while showing opportunities for new leadership. Original and thought-provoking ( )
What a great read...challenging at times, but so thought-provoking it is worth the effort. The author examines many feminist issues (consent, porn, prostitution and others), and explores differences in feminist thought about such issues without being judgmental. She explores ideas and perspectives within feminist thought and challenges the reader to do the same.
I liked her exploration of how a patriarchal society defines so many issues and responses. For example, she explores the politics of sex and desire and how mainstream preferences affect people of colour, disabled people, fat people, and others who don't confirm. Are our desires innate or shaped by the patriarchal society we live in? A patriarchal society also leads to systemic harms to consensual sex, in the case of male professors having relationships with female students.
By exploring differing feminist views and the context in which they ae formed, the author has made me think in a deeper, more nuanced way about such issues. Recommended. ( )
"Laser-cut writing and a stunning intellect. If only every writer made this much beautiful sense." â??Lisa Taddeo, author of Three Women "Amia Srinivasan is an unparalleled and extraordinary writerâ??no one X-rays an argument, a desire, a contradiction, a defense mechanism quite like her. In stripping the new politics of sex and power down to its fundamental and sometimes clashing principles, The Right to Sex is a bracing revivification of a crucial lineage in feminist writing: Srinivasan is daring, compassionate, and in relentless search of a new frame." â??Jia Tolentino, author of Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self Delusion Thrilling, sharp, and deeply humane, philosopher Amia Srinivasan's The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-First Century upends the way we discussâ??or avoid discussingâ??the problems and politics of sex. How should we think about sex? It is a thing we have and also a thing we do; a supposedly private act laden with public meaning; a personal preference shaped by outside forces; a place where pleasure and ethics can pull wildly apart. How should we talk about sex? Since #MeToo many have fixed on consent as the key framework for achieving sexual justice. Yet consent is a blunt tool. To grasp sex in all its complexityâ??its deep ambivalences, its relationship to gender, class, race and powerâ??we need to move beyond yes and no, wanted and unwanted. We do not know the future of sexâ??but perhaps we could imagine it. Amia Srinivasan's stunning debut helps us do just that. She traces the meaning of sex in our world, animated by the hope of a different world. She reaches back into an older feminist tradition that was unafraid to think of sex as a political phenomenon. She discusses a range of fraught relationshipsâ??between discrimination and preference, pornography and freedom, rape and racial injustice, punishment and accountability, students and teachers, pleasure and power, capitalism and liberation. The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-First Century is a provocation and a promise, transforming many of our most urgent political debates and asking what it
)
)
)
Google Books — Loading...
Wikipedia in English
4