When erotic pedagogy becomes sexual : rethinking pro-sex theory / Andrea E. Lesser.

The primary purpose of this thesis is to use Jane Gallop in my analysis as an example of pro-sex feminist pedagogy (and theory) in action, and will reject her ideas and approach not because I wish to attack her as a theorist, but instead because I wish to highlight the problems and dangers involved...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lesser, Andrea E.
Corporate Author: Simmons College (Boston, Mass.). Gender/Cultural Studies Program.
Format: Thesis Book
Language:English
Published: 2011.
Subjects:
Description
Summary:The primary purpose of this thesis is to use Jane Gallop in my analysis as an example of pro-sex feminist pedagogy (and theory) in action, and will reject her ideas and approach not because I wish to attack her as a theorist, but instead because I wish to highlight the problems and dangers involved in theorizing and performing pro-sex pedagogy. I argue that the pro-sex position uncritically privileges the sexual as a site of agency and individual liberty, ignoring the ways in which institutionally-established power differentials can render sexuality not only disempowering, but also exploitative and abusive. Theorists in this camp consistently ignore, or significantly downplay, their own positions of institutional authority in order to argue that the expression of sexuality in the classroom benefits both professors and students. Pro-sex feminism itself thus seems to be a self-serving position, since it allows those with the power to speak (i.e., the professor-theorists) the license not only to define "sex," but also to justify (from positions of institutional power) the expression of their own sexual desires as a necessary component of "pro-sex" feminist activism. In so doing, theory like Gallop's fails to critique systems of sexual power, instead reproducing and perpetuating those systems.
Physical Description:159 leaves ; 28 cm
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (leaves 154-159).