Power in the Erotic: Feminism and Lesbian Practice

Abstract

This project is about power and sexual desire. The chapter explains the different ways in which ‘power’ is used: as a relational concept for dynamics between individuals, and as a structural societal concept. Power is understood as having a capacity for producing subordination, but also pleasure. The chapter comments upon the feminist debate on power and sexuality. The ambition of the present project is to contribute to this debate, and the analytical approach is sketched out: to investigate lesbian negotiations of power issues known from the feminist critique of heterosexuality.