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Loading... Intercourse (edition 2006)by Andrea Dworkin (Author)
Work InformationIntercourse by Andrea Dworkin
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This was truly eye opening, poetic, emotionally difficult to read, I found my self nodding to no one at a lot of the points being made here, Dworkin put a lot in writing that I've been trying to word to myself for ages. That being said I don't think the book really challenged my viewpoint, just sort of reinforced stuff that I already believe, and also I don't think it would be particularly convincing to someone who disagrees with what she's saying. The format of each chapter talking about some literature wasn't my favorite either, I don't really like reading literary criticism especially in Part 1, but all the later chapters were great. I thought the best chapters were: Repulsion, Posession, and all of parts 2 and 3. ( ) read a lot of Dworkin back in the '80s. I even went to see her give a speech. I often haven't agreed with her on many issues, and possibly -- like many -- her complete refusal to compromise or be remotely flexible on anything (hence, the "militant feminist" label) made it harder to be sympathetic, not to mention the questions surrounding some of her personal history claims. But one can't deny she was a powerful, passionate speaker/writer, nor the fact that she made possibly the biggest impact in the greater feminist movement during the 1980s, so while this isn't my favorite text, I do think she's generally worth reading and engaging. I like to be challenged to think... Hold Up!!! Did I put a Dworkin book on my list and give it 4 stars?!?!?!This book makes me seethe with rage, both in agreement at times and in overwhelmingly violent disagreement at others. The fact remains, this book is written so well that it deserves to be on every writer's list. Some day, I hope to pen a text with as much clarity and creativity as Intercourse. Dworkin examines the social perception and construction of intercourse, asking much of the questions that need to be asked. She goes on to ask questions about intercourse and sex in general, posits different reasons, and because of this (and likely her anti-porn stance) she is perceived as "anti-sex." I didn't find a specific conclusion in the book, but rather took it as a commentary on the act. She never says "refuse to have it" anywhere, or at least I missed it if she did; at points she even discusses different ways intercourse can be conceived and made less male-supremacist, without totally ignoring the societal factors in favor of individualistic ideals. Considering US feminism basically is now a western worship of individualism, it's still incredibly relevant. It changed my entire perspective on intercourse and actually improved the sex I have, which is not what I expected it to do considering the things most will say about it. I highly recommend this book for all women, but especially for those who have sex and/or intercourse with men.
Andrea Dworkin, once called "Feminism's Malcolm X," has been worshipped, reviled, criticized, and analyzed-but never ignored. The power of her writing, the passion of her ideals, and the ferocity of her intellect have spurred the arguments and activism of two generations of feminists. Now the book that she's best known for-in which she provoked the argument that ultimately split apart the feminist movement-is being reissued for the young women and men of the twenty-first century. Intercourse enraged as many readers as it inspired when it was first published in 1987. In it, Dworkin argues that in a male supremacist society, sex between men and women constitutes a central part of women's subordination to men. (This argument was quickly-and falsely-simplified to "all sex is rape" in the public arena, adding fire to Dworkin's already radical persona.) In her introduction to this twentieth-anniversary edition of Intercourse, Ariel Levy, the author of Female Chauvinist Pigs, discusses the circumstances of Dworkin's untimely death in the spring of 2005, and the enormous impact of her life and work. Dworkin's argument, she points out, is the stickiest question of feminism: Can a woman fight the power when he shares her bed? Andrea Dworkin was the co-author, with Catharine A. MacKinnon, of civil rights legislation recognizing pornography as legally actionable sex discrimination. She wrote eleven books, including Pornography, Heartbreak, and Scapegoat. She died in April 2005 in Washington, D.C. Ariel Levy is a contributing editor at New York magazine, and the author of Female Chauvinist Pigs. She lives in New York City. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)306.7Social sciences Social sciences, sociology & anthropology Culture and institutions Sexual relationsLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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