"Andrea Dworkin was probably turning in her grave": Pornography, (Post)Feminist Backlash and Contemporary Women's Memoirs

Abstract

In a comment that is perhaps representative of new voices in contemporary feminist criticism, Natasha Walter states that in the 1970s "[a]II treatments of sexuality in culture were forced to reveal the imprint of sexism". She concludes that a minority of feminists perceived "any hint of sexuality in culture" as "proof of sexism" (Walter 1999: 112). Now, in the 21st century, the representation of dominant female sexuality, across all mediums of visual and textual expression, predominantly avoids the usual cultural trap of promiscuity; the image of the uncontrolled nymphomaniac, and it is this climate of active female sexual expression and a more inclusive (post)feminist discourse that has seen recent erotic non-fiction memoirs thrive. In this article, I will discuss three recent erotic memoirs: Melissa P.'s One Hundred Strokes of the Brush before Bed (2004), Toni Bentley's The Surrender: An Erotic Memoir (2006) and Catherine Townsend's Breaking the Rules: Confessions of a Bad Girl (2008). In the context of these memoirs, I will discuss the manner in which the texts celebrate, rather than contest, the eroticisation of male power and sexual values ascribed by the mainstreaming of the sex industry, and demonstrate how, in the context of postfeminist rhetoric and second-wave feminist backlash, this eroticisation of male power is represented, contentiously and divisively, as ostensibly liberating to women.

Opsomming
In 'n opmerking wat dalk nuwe stemme in kontemporere feministiese kritiek verteenwoordig, se Natasha Walter "[a]/1 treaflnents of sexuality in culture were forced to reveal the imprint of sexism" in die 1970s. Sy kom tot die gevolgtrekking dat min feministe "any hint of sexuality in culture" as "proof of sexism" beskou het (Walter 1999: 112). Nou, in die 21 ste eeu, word die gewone kulturele vangstrik van promisku"iteit - die beeld van die onbeheersde nimfomaan - in die uitbeelding van dominante vroulike seksualiteit oor alle visuele en tekstuele mediums heen hoofsaaklik vermy, en is dit juis hierdie klimaat van aktiewe vroulike seksuele uitdrukking en 'n meer inklusiewe (post)feministiese diskoers wat gelei het tot die onlangse opbloeiing van erotiese niefiksie memoires. In hierdie artikel bespreek ek drie onlangse erotiese memoires: Melissa P. se One Hundred Strokes of the Brush before Bed (2004), Toni Bentley se The Surrender: An Erotic Memoir (2006) en Catherine Townsend se Breaking the Rules: Confessions of a Bad Girl (2008). In die konteks van hierdie memoires kyk ek na die manier waarop hierdie tekste die erotisering van manlike mag en seksuele waardes (wat die nuwe hoofstroomstatus van die seksbedryf daaraan toeskryf) besing, eerder as bevraagteken, en toon ek hoe hierdie erotisering van manlike mag - in die konteks van postfeministiese retoriek en die tweedegolf-feministiese reaksie - kontensieus en verdelend uitgebeeld word as oenskynlik bevrydend vir vroue.