Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions

The Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research. If electronic transmission of reserve material is used for purposes in excess of what constitutes "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

) .)

Cor

a K

apla

n

Sea,

Cha

nges

E

ssay

s on

Cul

ture

and

Fem

inis

m

VERS

O Th

e imp

rint o

f New

Left B

ooks

30

wri

tten

by m

en a

nd w

omen

, an

d m

ust

atte

mpt

to

theo

rize

imag

inat

ive

wri

ting

fl.S

som

ethi

ng m

ore

spec

ific,

st

rang

e an

d fr

agm

ente

d th

an a

're

flect

ion'

of

eith

er p

atria

rcha

l id

eolo

gy o

r re

al s

ocia

l rel

atio

ns. A

soc

ialis

t cul

tura

l crit

icis

m m

ay w

ish

to c

ut

loos

e, f

inal

ly,

from

fem

inis

m's

over

emph

asis

in

the

last

dec

ade

on h

igh

cultu

re a

s a

lead

ing

influ

ence

, be

nign

or

vici

ous,

on

wom

en's

subo

rdin

atio

n or

stru

ggle

. M

illet

t's r

adic

al f

emin

ism

is

quite

cle

ar a

bout

cul

ture

's ce

ntra

l pla

ce in

the

sex

ual r

evol

utio

n.

Giv

en t

he e

rror

s in

her

def

initi

on o

f pa

triar

chy

and

the

func

tion

of p

atria

rcha

l ide

olog

y w

e sh

ould

, as

Mar

xist

s an

d fe

min

ists

, be

w

ary

of p

laci

ng a

ll of

our

hop

es a

nd f

ears

on

the

revi

sion

of

cultu

re. I

n he

r pos

tscr

ipt,

Mill

ett c

oncl

udes

:

The

enor

mou

s so

cial

cha

nge

invo

lved

in a

sex

ual r

evol

utio

n is

basi

c-al

ly a

mat

ter

of a

ltere

d co

nsci

ousn

ess,

the

exp

osur

e an

d el

imin

atio

n of

soc

ial a

nd p

sych

olog

ical

rea

litie

s un

derl

inin

g po

litic

al a

nd c

ultu

ral

stru

ctur

es.

We

are

spea

king

the

n, o

f a

cultu

ral

revo

lutio

n, w

hich

, w

hile

it m

ust n

eces

saril

y in

volv

e th

e po

litic

al a

nd e

cono

mic

reor

gani

z-at

ion

tradi

tiona

lly i

mpl

ied

by

the

term

rev

olut

ion,

m

ust

go f

ar

beyo

nd th

is a

s w

ell.

And

her

e it

wou

ld s

eem

that

the

mos

t pro

foun

d ch

ange

s im

plie

d ar

e on

es a

ccom

plis

hed

by h

uman

gro

wth

and

tru

e re

-edu

catio

n, r

athe

r th

an t

hose

arr

iv~d

at

thro

ugh

the

thea

trics

of

arm

ed s

trugg

le -

even

sho

uld

the

latte

r be

com

e in

evita

ble.

23

Muc

h of

thi

s st

atem

ent i

s po

litic

ally

impe

ccab

le, b

ut it

s em

pha-

sis,

wri

tten

as it

was

in t

he m

idst

of

the

Vie

tnam

war

, is

a lit

tle

wor

ryin

g. T

he re

aliti

es o

f arm

ed s

trugg

le a

re m

ade

to s

eem

mor

e di

stan

t an

d fic

tiona

l th

an t

hose

of

alte

red

cons

ciou

snes

s an

d hu

man

gro

wth

.

23. M

illet

t, pp

. 362

-3.

2.-W

ild N

ight

s: Pl

easu

re/S

exua

lity/

Fem

inism

...

till

wom

en a

re J

ed t

o ex

erci

se t

heir

und

erst

andi

rgs,

the

y sh

ould

not

be

satir

ized

for

the

ir at

tach

men

t to

rak

es;

or e

ven

for

bein

g ra

kes

at h

eart,

whe

n it

.app

ears

to b

e th

e in

evita

ble

cons

eque

nce

of t

heir

edu

catio

n. T

hey

who

liv

e to

ple

ase

-m

ust f

ind

thei

r enj

oym

ents

, the

ir ha

ppin

ess

in p

leas

ure!

Wild

Nig

hts

-W

ild N

ight

s!

Wer

e I w

ith th

ee

Wild

Nig

hts

shou

ld b

e O

ur lu

xury

!

Mar

y W

olls

tone

craf

t, 17

92

Emily

.Dic

kins

on 1

861

I had

bee

n a '

hope

ful r

adic

al.

Now

I a

m n

ot.

Porn

ogra

phy

has

infe

cted

me.

Onc

e I

was

a c

hild

and

I d

ream

ed o

f fr

eedo

m.

Now

I a

m a

n ad

ult

and

I se

e w

hat

my

drea

ms

have

com

e to

:

31

I I ,,

32

porn

ogra

phy.

So,

whi

le I

cann

ot h

elp

my

slee

ping

nig

htm

ares

, I h

ave

give

n up

man

y w

akin

g dr

eam

s.

And

rea

Dw

orki

n 19

811

How

diff

icul

t it i

s to

unc

oupl

e th

e te

rms

plea

sure

and

sex

ualit

y.

How

muc

h m

ore

diffi

cult,

onc

e un

coup

led,

to r

e-im

agin

e w

oman

as

the

sub

ject

, pl

easu

re a

s he

r ob

ject

, if

that

obj

ect i

s no

t sex

ual.

Alm

ost

two

cent

urie

s of

fem

inis

t ac

tivity

an

d de

bate

ha

ve

pass

ed,

two

hund

red

year

s in

whi

ch w

omen

's un

ders

tand

ings

ha

ve b

een

wid

ely

exer

cise

d, y

et m

ost

of M

ary

Wol

lsto

necr

aft's

m

odes

t pro

posa

ls fo

r fe

mal

e em

anci

patio

n ar

e sti

ll de

man

ds o

n a

fem

inis

t pla

tform

. Mos

t dis

tant

, mos

t uto

pian

see

ms

her h

esita

nt

\\-

plea

tha

t th

e so

cial

bas

is f

or w

oman

's s

exua

l ple

asur

e be

'dig

ni-

d""

fied'

af

ter

'som

e fu

ture

re

volu

tion

in

time'.

2 J:9--0

near

, to

o .

',t7c-;f

'~ fa

~her

.._t~

!!l_

E2!

3-W

_.~e

c:!_

!~~E

.~-E

:j~~

E ~

's

\)~;

). ')_

Rk

asu..

r.~.E

J,_j~

i:l~a

bJy..

.1:_?

J!.1-

9 to

h~_

e_p~

9!:E

1! a

n~

1:_

nt~

{1

v \L

,r

~-!fi

l~s.

Rev

olut

ions

hav

e co

me

and

gone

, an

d se

xual

ity _i

s on

ce

1.,.f

a~S '

-' ·'(

·:J ,

m

ore

at t

he h

ead

of f

e~in

ist

agen

d~s

in th

~ w

e~t,

the

wild

car

d r~ \

_ .,,c

J ef

:c<: w

hose

sui

t and

val

ue s

hifts

pr~

voc_

ative

_ly w

ith_ h

isto

ry. A

s dr

eai:n

.

'W v

,ti

or n

ight

mar

e, o

r bot

h at

onc

e, 1

t rei

gns

m o

ur li

ves

as a

n an

arch

ic

~:~_,·l

~'t;:/1

for

ce, r

efus

ing

to b

e ch

aste

ned

and

tam

ed b

y se

nse

or c

onsc

ienc

e "

':> ·

to a

sen

tenc

e in

a r

evol

utio

nary

man

ifest

o:

In th

e 'ri

ght t

o ch

oose

' the

wom

en's

mov

emen

t has

reas

sert

ed

the

tene

ts o

f lib

eral

hum

anis

m,

layi

ng c

laim

to

its p

rom

ise

of

indi

vidu

al c

ivil

righ

ts f

or w

omen

, an

d ac

know

ledg

ing

the

diffi

-cu

lty o

f pr

escr

iptio

n in

the

are

a of

sex

ual

polit

ics.

Xfl

_~

)e

\-c_

1 d"

.

"th"

\ \. ·

._, ~E

~2tua

~!Y-!

~!:!!

~in.§.

__ ?1

:f ..... .Q

f__~~

~-J.:g

u tra

___ c

.Q~s

.l~?.?

EJ-:--'

.YL __ ;.n

. ~t

-r-v"

', l_

\ .(Jr

~C?

_!lte.

Q:E~

E~.LY

_J:~l.

Ws..§

~_cau

s!ng

as m

uch

an~i

ety

to fe

_m_1

msts

and

1 1

, , c e

'~'~

,,.F

tfiei

r sy

mpa

this

ers

~s to

thei

r ~pp

onen

ts. W

1t~m

fe~

m~s

t deb

ate,

'r:

"" x·

. ra

dica

l an

d re

volu

tiona

ry f

emm

1sts

argu

e w

ith t

heir

liber

al a

nd

I ~"'

'' '

f 1·

. 11

: (?~

: c1

soci

alis

t si

ster

s ar

ound

def

initi

ons

o a

corr

ect

or p

o 1t

ica y

'{

'yr

acce

ptab

le s

exua

l pr

actic

e. T

he p

ossi

ble

posi

tions

on

this

trou

b~

ling

issu

e th

at c

an b

e id

entif

ied

as f

emin

is_t_

rang

Lfro

m...

.a..p

ro-

Mar

y W

olls

tone

craf

t, A

Vind

icatio

n of

/hi

Rig/

ifs o

f Wom

an,

New

Yor

k 19

75, p

. 11

9. E

mily

Dic

kins

on,

The

Com

plete

Poe

ms o

f Em

ily D

ickin

son,

Th,

omas

H. J

ohn-

son

ed.,

Lond

on 1

977,

p. 1

14. A

ndre

a D

wor

kin,

Por

nogr

apl1y

: Men

Pos

sess1

11g

Wom

en,

Lond

on, 1

981,

p. 3

04.

2. W

olls

tone

craf

t, p.

"119

.

Wild

Nig

hts

33

plea

sure

; po

lym

orph

ousl

y pe

rver

se ~

~1:!~

L..@

gicali

R_m

L..th

1:g,!,!

gh

calif

iuus

p~rm

is-s-

ivei

'\e'ss

,':J~:

::-an

f[j:.)

p;m

__ acf

odsm

.~a_

Qg ___

,LRQ

litj~

al 1e

s6ia

nism

Thi

;( de

-emp~

,~~:3.

.~-~-

-,g~g

iJ.~L

-2~~

!:!~F

ty. '

!'~_1

;J-Y

~L

·--cO

'nfl

1cnr

trrh

e~Q

L"1e

~m-j

!~~!

t_sJ

-1gg

~.§!

.§., ..

,fl.Q

l_2~g

~-~th

er fh

Trtg

s;-~~

9~11

~].Y

,._W

,QP.

:1~!

f§~-

-suk

t~_<

;!i,v

ity)~

.. -~21

1_stE1

;1_<:,t

~? fn

!Q![g

n§.e_

i@J:c

at~g

gri~

s. -

The

nega

tive

mea

ning

s hi

stor

ical

ly a

ssoc

iate

d w

ith t

heir

sex-

ualit

y ha

ve b

een

a m

ajor

impe

dim

ent i

n w

omen

's fig

ht fo

r lib

era-

tion.

His

tori

ans

sugg

est

that

the

'ide

olog

ical

div

isio

n of

wom

en

into

tw

o cl

asse

s, t

he v

irtu

ous

and

the

falle

n, w

as a

lread

y w

ell

deve

lope

d' b

y th

e m

id-e

ight

eent

h ce

ntur

y. C

erta

inly

~t r

~cei

v~d

one

of i

ts m

aj,or

mod

ern

artic

ulat

ions

at

abou

t th

is t

ime

m

Rous

seau

'.s E

mile

(176

2).

In E

mile

the

poss

ibili

ty o

f wom

en's

civi

l, ec

onom

ic a

nd p

sych

olog

ical

ind

epen

denc

e is

reje

cted

bec

ause

it

2cw

wou

ld a

lso

enab

le th

e in

depe

nden

t and

Jice

ntio

u?_e

xerc

ise o

f her

~{,-<

::...,..?

"'v

supp

osed

ly in

satia

ble

sexu

al a

ppet

ite. W

oman

's de

sire

i~Y

r/e_

r,"'

~~J,

.,, 'r

Rou

ssea

u as

bot

h re

gres

sive

_!~5

.1-~

~~m

pnve

~f

the

new

hb~

_i;_gl

.J ...

_"" .s

so

oal o

rcle

rne

PfQp

Qseq

;..JY,

QIDg

n:s ... e

man

cipa.t

JQJL

W.O

JJ.hl .

. IB~D

_fl.

..,, r

·:A~=

%-~

·;;~~

;;i~f

~c\~

~~;~

;~jJ

~~~;

~P.!

~~~1

1iic

~II~

~~f;i:~J

and

inde

pend

ent i

s fa

tally

Jin

ked

to th

e un

rest

ram

ed a

nd v

1c1o

us

exer

cise

of

her

sexu

ality

, no

t jus

t in

the

prop

agan

da o

f th

e ne

w

right

, but

in a

cen

tral a

nd in

fluen

tial w

?rk

o~ th

e ve

ry o

ld_l

eft.

le.ti

.;-

Wh_

en f

emin

is~s

soug

~~~e

pr<?

PJIB

.te l

iber

al h

umam

sm f

or

rz., 1_ 3_

""'

thei

r ow

nsex

tfiey

n'aa

to c

onte

nd w

ith t

he d

oubl

e st~

~ 1-<

>~

. pm

mrr

rertt

lyin

-sc:

rioea

wifn

in ra

c!_:

canr

aciil

ion,

w

ell _

as wi

th_ it

s_ Je

v':v,_

J .

2.,u

ffoca

tmg

and

dete

rmin

ing_

pres

en5~

...].

om,!

!lpn

t_J~

g~~s

. D

-<~

11 t...

Fe

mal

e se

xual

ity is

stil

l th

e su

ppre

ssed

!ex

t of

thos

e hb

e~al

and

"'cr

;~·J..::

' le

ft pr

ogra

mm

es t

hat

are

sile

nt o

n th

e is

sues

of

wom

en s

s~b

-lv<

'.c. 'L

-.'

,.

ordi

natio

n. T

his

sile

nce

has

had

its n

egat

ive

effe

ct u

pon

fem

m-

.::f,vz

.;,-;.,,,

.. " ( ,

is

m

itsel

f, w

hich

m

ust

alw

ays

spea

k in

to

othe

r po

litic

al

disc

ours

e~he

re b

oth

righ

t and

_left

sex

ual i

deo

log

ie~

~~

e,

asso

ciat

ing

wom

en's

desi

re

with

w

eakn

ess,

un

reas

on

a_!ld

m

aten

ahsm

, it

has

been

no

ticeab

ly~

_p

.Q.s

itiy

e

s~al

afia

poli

fica

rine

a.!1

J.ng

s fo

r -fe

mal

e se

xual

ityPO

nly

its

supp

osed

ais

rupt

ive

forc

e ca

n be

har

ness

ed t

o re

vo~u

tion~

ry

poss

ibili

ty, a

nd th

en, p

erha

ps, o

nly

for

th~

mom

ent o

f d1s

rupt

~on

itsel

f. W

hile

mos

t fem

inis

ms

have

rec

ogm

zed

that

the

regu

latio

n of

fem

ale

sexu

ality

and

the

ideo

logi

cal

mob

iliza

tion

of it

s th

reat

to

ord

er a

re p

art

of w

omen

's su

bord

inat

ion,

it i

s no

t su

rpris

ing

that

they

hav

e to

o of

ten

acce

pted

the

par

adig

m t

hat i

nsis

ts t

hat

c'l.!N,

s kc

.. v"-

0

-----·

r> t U

_(:'

k_ c

) 0

,c.u

,,.,..

..,_...._

,J\'

Ue.~1

.v"\..-

C

e-

{C."

:)V\

..;r,

' vt.

.,

¼VU.

.. I':

_ \/

~'t

--Q

.v-.

'>

\.,J...,

S

34

d~si

re is

a r

egry

&si

ve f

orce

in

wom

en's

live

s, a

nd h

ave

calle

d fQ

.L a

subl

imat

ion

of w

omen

's s

exua

l pl

easu

re t

o m

eet

a p,

assi

onle

ss

and_

rat

iona

l id

eal.

Rou

ssea

u's

· for

mul

atio

n ha

s ca

st

a lo

ng

~had

ow t

hat

ca~

t be

dis

pers

ed b

y si

mpl

e in

vers

ions

of

his

l argu

men

t~A

s lo

ng a

s th

e id

ea s

urvi

ves

that

a r

efor

med

libi

dina

l e(

onom

y fo

r w

omen

is t

he-P

-rec

ondi

tion

for

a su

cces

sful

fem

inis

t RO

litic

s, w

omen

can

alw

ays

be s

een

as u

nrea

dy_ f

or e

man

cipy

itiol

)ll

This

vie

w,

expl

icitl

y ex

pres

sed

in M

ary

Wol

lsto

necr

aft's

A V

indi

-ca

tion

of t

/Je R

ig/it

s of

Wom

an e

mer

ges

in a

di

ffer

ent

form

in

Adr

ienn

e R

ich'

s ra

dica

l fe

min

ist

pole

mic

, 'C

ompu

lsor

y H

eter

o-__ s

exua

lity

and

Lesb

ian

Exi

sten

ce'

(198

0).

Thi

s ar

ticle

exp

lore

s A

Vind

icatio

n at

som

e le

ngth

, an

d 'C

ompu

lsor

y H

eter

osex

uali

ty'

very

bri

efly

, as

par

t of

a l

onge

r pr

ojec

t to

und

erst

and

how

the

se

xual

pol

itics

of f

emin

ism

has

bee

n sh

aped

.

The

Rig

hts

of W

oman

and

Fem

inin

e Se

xual

ity: M

ary

Wol

lsto

necr

aft

The

rep

utat

ion

of M

ary

Wol

lsto

necr

aft's

A

Vind

icatio

n of

t/Je

-...

Rig/

its o

f W

oman

(17

92),

the

fo_u

ndin

g te

xt_o

f A

JJ~

f~

m,

gene

rally

pre

cede

s an

d in

par

t co

nstr

ucts

our

rea

ding

of

it.

We

are

likel

y to

loo

k fo

r, an

d pr

ivile

ge,

its d

eman

ds f

or

educ

atio

nal,

lega

l an

d po

litic

al e

qual

ity;

thes

e ar

e, a

fter

all,

the

de

man

ds t

hat

link

Wol

lsto

neca

ft's

fem

inis

m t

o ou

r ow

n. I

f w

e gi

ve o

urse

lves

up

to

A Vi

ndic

atio

n's

eloq

uent

but

som

ewha

t ra

mbl

ing

pros

e, w

e w

ill a

lso

disc

over

pas

sim a

n un

forg

etta

ble

earl

y ac

coun

t of

the

mak

ing

of a

lad

y,_~

acu~

,_de

_tai

led

anal

y:si

s o

V:h

e-s~

~~

~-~

--o

Ue.

min

i.n

ity

_,_

whi

ch a

ppro

pria

tes

the

deve

lopm

enta

l ps

ycho

logy

of

en

ligh

tenm

ent

and

rom

anti

c th

ough

t. I_!_

is c

erta

~_~

ossi

ble

_to __ e

ng_c

1g~_

with

_A_V

inqi

f;qjjQ

1.1s

o _

. far

and

no

fart

her,

to

let l

l}Q

SLoJ

.Hs . .

trou

blin

g.hi

s.to

rkal

JUea

ning

s .,

),)

--~nd

_c()n

.t_r.c

3:9-_i

Eti..9

E,~ .. d

r2Ei

\.~<l

Y,--

so .. t

hatw

.e .. m

ay.J

ake.

awa:

y_fr

om it

y}

'. u··

· /

an u

npro

blem

atic

fem

inis

t in

heri

tanc

e. H

ow m

uch

use

can

we

").,

'..(1i'

,~.._ ·

mak

e of

lhis

.leg

iicf

w·i

thoi

iFis

ense

·of t

he h

isto

ry t

hat

prod

uced

.:-

,;,('

,('

it? R

ead

A Vi

ndica

tion

for

its h

isto

rica

l mea

ning

s an

d an

othe

r te

xt

'·~: Ji

' --

--·----

----------

--···--..,

. ______ -··

_,

3. Je

ffrey

Wee

ks,

Sex,

Polit

ics a

nd S

ociet

y, Lo

ndon

198

1, p

. 30.

4. A

drie

nne

Rich

, 'C

ompu

lsor

y H

eter

osex

ualit

y an

d Le

sbia

n Ex

iste

nce',

in

Si

gns;

Jour

nal o

f Wom

en in

Cul

ture

and

Soc

iety,

vol.

5, no

. 4, 1

980,

pp.

631

-60.

'\,

l,J :

:i: W

ild N

ight

s 35

o~

ha_

! is

~g!:

t<!!?.

ly_a_

§j!1_

~~E~

§.t~9

-_il)_

µe_v

,~JQp

i_1:1,

g.~--~

~~s-

s~~,

!V2!

2..!a

dgjL

_r~!

.?f.!

1}.e

,~_!

?_9_

y1g~

9J.si

e_~~

.Ju .. 0

:.Qd!

!cin

g_an

an

al y_

~~-g

!_~.2

.I!l.f

il(~-

~~-~

,Qx.d

jna._t

jgE). p

.nd

? .. p

lani

fes to

_ of h

~r._

rJgh t

s. ---

------

this

part

of

Wol

lsto

necr

aft's

pro

ject

des

erve

s ou

r at

tent

ion

too,

fo

r on

ly

by u

nder

stan

ding

w

hy

Wo __ g

~~

.cra

~J.

llcl,

, w

omen

to

beco

me j

ull

1Ild

e2!!

nden

t _m

ympe

r~ o

f • th

e-m

i§<l

li:~

c, k 1

"'-

. cla

ss,_

~~

.fil

<~

}),2

.g_p

Ltb

~ .. .n

~gi:J

._tjxg

_"an

c:Lgi;

{:!.~q

-i p.ti

ve.a

ssau

ltpn.

c. v

t; 1-, ,A

-

on fe

mal

e se

xual

ity th

at is

the

leitm

otif

of A

'\Zi

ndicq

Jion

whe

.reJU

s...:.

c, ua

\;· ; J

.

not

the

over

t sub

ject

of

the

text

. It

is u

sual

to

see

ffie

Fren

clrR

evol

utio

n as

the

inte

llect

ual a

nd

polit

ical

bac

kdro

p-ito

A V

indi

catio

n; i

t wou

ld b

e m

ore

usef

ul to

see

it

as th

e m

ost i

mpo

rtan

t con

ditio

n of

its

prod

ucti

on.

As

Mar

gare

t W

alte

rs h

as p

oint

ed o

ut,

A Vi

ndica

tion

sum

s up

and

rea

rtic

ulat

es

a ce

ntur

y of

fem

inis

t id

eas,

5 bu

t its

im

me.

di.a

te s

take

was

in

the

f'v EO

litic

al a

dvan

ce o

f a

revo

lutio

n,ac

y-Y

ill}g

uard

.:::::

..!.ll

iLlk

l..dl

e.=.d

ass

re) ~r-a

! J !!~

lf,...il

.§ W

~IT

E-.

f!..~

_n_g

oth

er..:

' im

agin

e~jt

Eve

r)'. 0

12in

ion

in I

..,.e_

, ·./··1~

l., th

e te

~ __ i

s _w

ritte

n _i

JJ._

j:he.

...gl

are-

of-th

is .. J

lOlit

kally

_,,c

_har

ged-

-aRd

\

0 co

nvul

sive

mom

ent,

an~ _

_J9g

__ar

ea o

f W

olls

tone

craf

t's_t

hpug

ht

mos

l alt

ered

.and

illu

min

ated

-by-

that

--gl

are-

is-s

exu 9

lity;. I

n he

r tw

o at

tem

pts

at f

ictio

n, M

ary,

a Fi

ction

and

Mar

ia o

r T/

Je W

rong

s_ o

f W

oman

, on

e pr

oduc

ed a

few

yea

rs b

efor

e A

Vind

icatio

n an

d th

e ot

her

inco

mpl

ete

at h

er d

eath

in

1797

, w

omen

's f

eelin

gs a

nd

desi

res,

as

w

ell

as

the

impo

rtan

ce o

f ex

pres

sing

the

m,

are

/,J

_ 1 va

lori

zed:

PBut

in

A Vi

ndica

tion_

_ W

ollst

one.

c:r!'

lt! ____

t~E_

ne~-

-~ga

inst

"--q

"'-~,

-,.,

1 1

f~g

,_ w

hi_c

h. iL

.S~~

~---<

!.5--~

~iJio

nary

and

_reg

l:'.~s

-~-~:'

.:.'_ ..

3-~?

~_t

u~~-

....i -

c-;,

-~!-

rE:~

o.lu

_!:l_

oE~~

y__,

!P~~

~l~t

y an

d p

lea~

-""~

~-~

-tJc

:J

indu

cem

ent~

.~aJ

jf,~

,:.~2

f=lu

qr8_

1:~~

fsl[

y.g~

~§®

:·)~:

:.t~-

~;:o

~ly.

\ ,lt P

P2~~

-_<! ttr

-ip.~~

~i.!P.

R.£.9.

E.1:i.a

Je:;:to

!fl.Y

-r.ey_

o.!11

Ji_on

ary .. c

:h<!lg

c;,.t§

[ 1~p

d 7

J :w

om._e

n. c1

x~ir:

!}J2!

:.de .. d

b}:_

Jheir

_e_a

,fly_

and

__ cor

rupt

.jniti

at-i

onjn

_tb~

J ~~

r1su

aL,fr

..Qrr1

.JJsm

g th

eirs

,-~

· ~h

.y-is.

..A-:-

1lind

i~tJlj

Q!!_

_~~?

--~1:

1!f~

ed _

-~i-~

-~ .. :

~~-

sex1:1

~~--

a_~d

so

seve

re a

bout

1t?

This

1s

the

ques

l:Ion

tha

t I

will

exp

lore

at

snm

e l~

oelo

w:

Wol

lsto

necr

aft's

fem

inis

m a

nd h

er p

osit

ions

on

sexu

ality

wer

e, a

,t th

is p

oint

in

her

life,

dir

ectly

bou

nd u

p w

ith I

her

radi

cal p

oliti

cs -

they

can

onl

y be

und

erst

ood

thro

ugh

each

/ ot

her.

In

unta

ngli

ng t

he k

nott

ed m

eani

ngs

of t

he s

exua

l in

our

ow

n hi

stor

y, o

ur o

wn

polit

ics,

it

is u

sefu

l to

und

erst

and

the

5. M

arga

ret

Wal

ters

, 'T

he R

ight

s an

d W

rong

s of

Wom

en:

Mar

y W

olls

tone

craf

t, H

arrie

t M

artin

eau,

Sim

one

de B

eauv

oir',

in

Julie

t M

itche

ll an

d A

nn O

akle

y ed

s., T

he R

ight

s an

d W

rong

s of

Wom

en,

Har

mon

dsw

orth

, 197

9, p

p. 3

04-3

78.

36

diff

eren

t bu

t re

curr

ing

anxi

etie

s it

has

stir

red

for

othe

r fe

min

-i_s

ms, o

ther

tim

es.

A Vi

ndica

tion

of th

e Ri

ghts

of W

oman

off

ers

the

read

er a

pur

itan

sexu

al e

thic

with

suc

h pa

ssio

nate

con

vict

ion

that

sel

f-de

nial

se

ems

a lib

idin

zed

activ

ity.

And

so

it w

as,

in t

he s

ense

tha

t a

refo

rm o

f sex

ual b

eha~

..!!?

.!.S

!.!1

.$£~

!:!.

P.!:

,C~n

diti

,9.!

_1_~

rn

dica

l. <j

}ang

~ in

__ j!1

e _ c

o~

~m

en

; ~

perm

ittin

g ~

e

dey_

elop

men

LoLt

lieir

reASO

n Th

e de

moc

ratic

im

pera

tives

-eq

ualit

y an

d lib

erty

for

all

clas

ses

of p

erso

ns -

have

bee

n, f

or s

o lo

ng n

ow,

the

wel

l wor

n st

aple

s of

libe

ral a

nd

left

rhet

oric

tha

t it

is ha

rd t

o re

mem

ber

that

the

y w

ere

bein

g in

voke

d in

new

way

s an

d w

ith u

npre

cede

nted

exu

bera

nce

in th

e 17

_90s·

; Whe

n w

e tr

y to

puz

zle

out t

he m

eani

ngs

of A

Vin

dica

tion

it'is

the

nega

tive

cons

truct

ion

of th

e se

xual

in th

e m

idst

of a

pos

i-tiv

e an

d pr

ogre

ssiv

e co

nstru

ctio

n of

the

soc

ial

and

polit

ical

we

mt,J:

st qu

estio

n. I

n th

at c

ontra

dict

ion

-if

inde

ed it

is a

con

tradi

c-tio

n -

our

pres

ent

conf

lict

over

sex

ual

polit

ics

is st

ill p

artly

em

bedd

ed.

Wri

tten·

in s

ix w

eeks

at

the

heig

ht o

f B

ritis

h le

ft op

timis

m

abou

t eve

nts

in F

ranc

e, A

Vin

dica

tion

cam

e ou

t ear

ly in

179

2, t

he

sam

e ye

ar a

s th

e se

cond

par

t of T

om P

aine

's Ri

ghts

of M

an, a

yea

r be

fore

Will

iam

God

win

's Po

litica

l Ju

stice

. Ea

ch w

as,

equa

lly,

a re

spon

se t

o th

e po

litic

al m

omen

t. A

ll th

ree

wer

e cr

ucia

l st

ate-

men

ts a

bout

the

soci

al a

nd p

oliti

cal p

ossi

bilit

ies

of a

tran

sfor

med

Br

itain

. A

n al

mos

t m

illen

aria

l fe

rvou

r m

oved

Brit

ish

radi

cals

in

thes

e ye

ars.

The

ir po

litic

al a

nd p

hilo

soph

ical

ide

as w

ere

bein

g pu

t in

to p

ract

ice

only

a f

ew h

undr

ed m

iles

away

; th

ere

wer

e si

gns

of

reas

oned

an

d pu

rpos

eful

un

rest

at

ho

me

amon

g or

dina

ry w

orki

ng p

eopl

e. T

he e

nd o

f ar

isto

crat

ic p

rivile

ge a

nd

auto

crat

ic r

ule

in F

ranc

e w

as t

o be

tak

en a

s a

sign

of

univ

ersa

l ch

ange

. Th

e do

wnf

all

of t

he B

astil

le,

Thom

as P

aine

exu

lted,

in

clud

ed th

e id

ea o

f the

dow

nfal

l of d

espo

tism

. A

Vind

icatio

n en

gage

s w

ith r

adic

al r

oman

tic

polit

ics

at a

m

omen

t whe

n th

e pr

actic

al r

ealiz

atio

n of

suc

h a

polit

ics

seem

ed

as n

ear

as F

ranc

e its

elf.

Wol

lsto

necr

aft

had

alre

ady

wri

tten

one

shor

t pa

mph

let,

A Vi

ndica

tion

of t

ile R

ig/it

s of

Men

(1

790)

, in

su

ppor

t of

the

revo

lutio

n, a

nd w

as s

till

to w

rite

a lo

ng p

iece

on

its b

ehal

f.6 I

n A

Vind

icatio

n of

the

Rig

hts

of W

oman

, he

r m

ost

6. M

ary

Wol

lsto

necr

aft,

Histo

rical

and

Mor

al V

iew o

f /lie

Orig

in a

nd P

rogr

ess

of th

e Fr

ench

Rev

olut

ion,

179

4.

1/

Wild

Nig

hts

37

impo

rtan

t w

ork,

she

too

k ad

vant

age

of a

n op

en m

omen

t of

po

litic

al d

ebat

e to

int

erve

ne o

n be

half

of w

omen

from

ins

ide

the

Briti

sh le

ft in

telli

gent

sia.

· Its

mes

sage

is u

rgen

t pre

cise

ly b

ecau

se

soci

al a

nd p

oliti

cal

refo

r,m s

eem

ed n

ot j

ust

poss

ible

, bu

t in

evit-

able

. Th

e st

atus

of

wom

en a

s m

oral

and

pol

itica

l be

ings

had

be

com

e on

e fa

irly

mut

ed i

nsta

nce

of t

he u

nres

olve

d co

ntra

dic-

tions

with

in t

he r

epub

lican

and

dem

ocra

tic t

ende

ncie

s of

the

tim

e. T

he o

verl

appi

ng te

nden

cies

of e

nlig

hten

men

t and

rom

antic

th

ough

t em

phas

ized

th

e na

tura

l vi

rtue

rath

er

than

in

nate

de

prav

ity o

f hu

man

bei

ngs,

the

ir e

qual

ity b

efor

e G

od,

and

the

evils

bro

ught

abo

ut b

y un

equa

l la

ws

and

here

dita

ry p

rivile

ge.

Arg

umen

ts in

itial

ly d

irect

ed a

t a c

orru

pt ru

ling

clas

s on

beh

alf o

f a

virt

uous

bou

rgeo

isie

ine

vita

bly

open

ed u

p qu

estio

ns o

f in

tra-

clas

s po

wer

re

latio

ns.

With

A

· Vin

dica

tion

Wol

lsto

necr

aft

chal

leng

ed h

er o

wn

polit

ical

cam

p, in

sist

ing

that

wom

en's

right

s be

put

high

eron

the

radi

cal

agen

da._~

cl.~~

.l:.~

~~9.j

;_qJ

.q_llg

yra'n

d, ta

king

issu

e w

ith R

ouss

eau,

s_p

eaki

ng t

he p

oliti

cal

jarg

on o

f he

r 'E

nglis

hron

tem

pora

ries

, ..d_

Vind

icatio

n in

Yi.

l~ en

light

enm

ent -

heiif

age,

"'tne

-dea

cl a

ria th

e liv

ing,

to

exte

nd t

he n

ewhu

mar

usm

to

cthe

oth

er h

-alfo

flfie

-rac

·e:-W

-ithc

r-th

rivirr

g-re

volu

tiurr

-i:m

der

way

, th

epol

itica

l ana

ihre

l1ec

fual

cre

dit o

f rep

ublic

an s

ympa

this

-er

s w

as a

s hi

gh a

s th

eir m

oral

e. I

t see

med

like

the

rig

ht m

omen

t to

ask

them

to p

ay th

eir d

ebt t

o w

omen

. Th

e op

enin

g pa

ges

of A

Vin

dica

tion

shar

e th

e ag

gres

sive

, co

nfid

ent

moo

d an

d to

ne t

hat

had

deve

lope

d un

der

the

thre

at

and

prom

ise

of t

he r

evol

utio

nary

mom

ent.

Rid

icul

ing

the

'turg

id

bom

bast

' an

d 'fl

ower

y di

ctio

n'

of

aris

tocr

atic

di

scou

rse,

W

olls

tone

craf

t of

fers

the

rea

der

inst

ead,

'si

ncer

ity'

and

'un-

affe

cted

' pro

s~,

the

styl

e an

d st

~nda

rds

of t

he c

l~ss

of

men

~nd

:~·d

\ !-w

omen

t~ w

hom

~he

was

spe

akm

g -

'I.p~y

_-~r

h~_l!

-~~-

~!!~

DJlQ

~_ r

' l-s

s

~se m

_,th

e m

1ddl

e_cl

ass,

~aus

e th

ey a

ppea

r to

be

m t

he

~1

mos

t ~[

L~,

_kas

Lc.

or:r

.1,1

.P,~

~l~~

e.'. f!

~.C

~~

~~

-~\

o-._)

-hias

:Jy_a

s .~

haxe

d .w

ith-h

er. .. r

adic

aLco

.ntg

mfto

~ 9de

s-=.

jUs.

-har

_dly

su

r_pr

is_ing

_ _th

at .. i

deal

ized

hum

anity

jw_ i

~ §l

ppya

r~ i

n hg

r_Je

).(U

s.a

iaf~~

,-P-1

!..in

_~p~

_aki

ng,_J

:?.Q1

:!Eg_

e,~is

-~.:

..J2

enyi

n~_i

nni;

lte

"~qy

_g_li

_ty: __

betw

een

Jhg~

__ §ex

es __

m,g

12Lv

J:n:§

is:A

J_§t

r.eng

.th,_

she

-pr

omis

es .. t

o.!.f

ir.st

-con

side

r.,w

omer

i_tn

_th~

_grn

nd.li

ghLo

Lhum

au

C!:§

!t1Jre

s,.:w

.ho ,jJ

\_CQ,

ffiffi

..Q!l .

.With

.men

, .. are

~pJa

ced.

on~t

his .

ear.t

h,to

, "u

nfol

d th

eir

facu

lties

', an

d_ .. !:!

.,c;l._c

l._r,ess

es .. h

eLSi

ster

s .. _h

o)dl

y .. AS

~

;[~i~ak

:~:-~~~

~,~i-f~

~~;~:~

~~!~t:~

f;~~=g:

:f!~~~~

)

38

the

dist

i~~.

Qf_

_sg2

<.~-

· . '7

"·

How

to

atta

in t

his

char

acte

r? I

n Pa

ine'

s Ri

ghts

of M

an t

he

read

er w

as t

old

that

ine

qual

ity a

nd o

ppre

ssio

n w

ere

the

effe

·cts

of c

ultu

re r

athe

r th

an n

atur

e. T

he t

ext

itsel

f is

a po

litic

izin

g ev

ent,

first

con

stru

ctin

g an

d th

en w

orki

ng o

n an

unc

orru

pted

ra

tiona

l sub

ject

. Pai

ne h

oped

, and

his

ene

mie

s fe

ared

, th

at s

ome

sort

of

dire

ct p

oliti

cal

actio

n to

uns

eat

desp

otic

pow

er w

ould

fo

llow

fro

m a

sym

path

etic

rea

ding

of h

is p

amph

let.

The

mes

sage

an

d in

tent

ion

of A

Vin

dica

tion

are

very

diff

eren

t. N

owhe

re d

oes

Wol

lsto

necr

aft

pose

wom

en,

in t

heir

pre

sent

'de

grad

ed' c

ondi

-tio

n, a

s ei

ther

van

guar

d or

rev

olut

iona

ry m

ass.

Lik

e th

e co

rrup

t ar

isto

crac

y, t

o w

hom

the

y ar

e fr

eque

ntly

com

pare

d, !

~~Y,

_9.~

, ir

n,t~

G_

lum

pen

grou

p wh

o_ m

ust

unde

rgo

stre

nuou

s re

-edu

ca_-

. tio

n in

ord

erth

at th

ey_m

ighL

r.eno

.unc

e....t

b~_s

_ens

.yg1

,-.ri£

L!he

_!!}

-se

lveL

o..L

sdLp

hrns

es,

susr

eptib

ili1y

of h

~i~

~Y

.2!

S!;~

~:

men

t, an

d re

fine

men

t of

tas

t~--

,-.-,.

~lib

er.ti

ne...

nolJ

ons_

oLbe

aut¥

an

d th

e si

nglg

-min

decl

~des

ire o

f es

tabl

ishin

g_tb

ems_

elv.

.e.s.

~tb_

e on

ly w

ayyo

men

can

_risg

in

the

wor

ld -

. by

mar

riag

~A

~e

the

mid.d

l.e.= .

.d<1s

s w

oman

can

join

the

Il!.id

dle-

clas

s m

an in

ady_

Q_-

Cfl._

ting_

and

adva

nci1!

g_I:1

_~1:1

:an _

_ero

gres

s,_sh

e m

ust b

~-pg

!:§_t1

aq~<

1Jo

beco

me

'mor

e m

ascu

line

and

resp

ecta

ble'

, by

givi

ng u

p he

~/91

.~

66th

. as··; in

s"f gn

ifica

nf"o

oj ec

ts··o

f·des

ire~ :

in<l

-as·d

esi_

rinK

subj

ecfS

Ev

en i

n its

ow

ri-da

y·;c

r Vi

n'i:T

icatio

n m

ust

have

bee

n a

shor

t, sh

arp

shoc

k fo

r w

omen

rea

ders

. M

en m

ight

be

able

to

mob

ilize

re

ason

and

pas

sion

, in

the

m e

quita

bly

com

bine

d, t

o ch

ange

the

w

orld

im

med

iate

ly;

wom

en,

crip

pled

and

stu

nted

by

an e

duca

-tio

n fo

r de

pend

ence

, m

ust

liber

ate

them

selv

es f

rom

a s

lavi

sh

addi

ctio

n to

th

e se

nsua

l be

fore

the

ir

'und

erst

andi

ngs'

cou

ld

liber

ate

anyo

ne e

lse.

At l

ater

mom

ents

of p

oliti

cal c

risis

fem

inis

ts

coul

d, a

nd w

ould

, po

rtra

y w

omen

as

vang

uard

fig

ures

, su

b-or

dina

ted

mem

bers

of t

he p

rope

rtie

d cl

ass

who

und

erst

ood

mor

e ab

out

oppr

essi

on,

as

a re

sult,

th

an

thei

r bo

urge

ois

mal

e co

mra

des.

Not

her

e. R

ead

inte

rtext

ually

, he

ard

agai

nst

the

poly

-ph

onic

lyr

icis

m o

f Pa

ine,

· God

win

and

the

doz

ens

of e

phem

eral

pa

mph

lete

ers

who

wer

e ce

lebr

atin

g th

e fa

ct a

nd p

rosp

ect o

f th

e re

volu

tion,

A V

indi

catio

n w

as a

sob

erin

g re

ad. W

olls

tqne

craf

t set

s .o

ut o

n __ an

.her

oicm

j_ss

ion

to r

escu

e w

omen

from

a_ fa

te w

orse

tita

n._

7. W

olls

tone

craf

t, A

Vind

icatio

n, p

p. 9

-10.

8.

Ib

id.,

p. 1

0.

9. Ib

id.,

p. 1

1.

., I ,. .I· ., I I·

Wild

Nig

hts

39

deat

h, w

hich

was

, as

she_

saw

it, t

he m

alis

:!Q!J

S.i!n

dsim

t1lta

neou

s_

iJJs.c

ri pJi

~ . .!?.

L!t~~i.~

. _§_~

Xt1q_l

i_ty __ a

:r1_g

_jnf

edor

i ty.

as . ...i

11IJ.a

t~ ,, J.

}p t_l

JI.ill.

diffe

renc

e.. I

.hi_[

.J:YJ

;!S._h

o.w._h

gr_p

_olit

ical..m

ento

cand

.gend

er...a

dY..e

.r.-

~~~e~

~_e;f.

s:;1ef }

~~:~

~~~~

:~~a

;:~~

ffJe

~~~~

::0g

;::~

hn~~

le

ast

on W

olls

tone

crat

t he

rsel

f. Sh

e ac

cept

s R

ouss

eau'

s as

crip

-. p

tio

n of

fem

ale

infe

riorit

y an

d lo

cate

s it

even

mor

e fir

mly

tha

n he

-~

/

does

in

an e

xces

s of

sen

sibi

lity.

Sin

ce J

ust

and

narc

issi

sm w

ere

~

evil

they

mus

t be

long

to

soci

al r

elat

ions

rat

her

than

hum

an

natu

re;

this

was

Rou

ssea

u's

own

posi

tion

in r

elat

ion

to m

en.

Acc

ordi

ngly

, fe

mal

e se

xual

ity in

sofa

r as

it i

s vi

ciou

s is

insc

ribed

_

? in

A V

indi

catio

n as

the

eff

ect

of c

ultu

re o

n an

ess

entia

lly u

n-,.)-

'> =

gend

ered

nat

ure.

By

tam

peri

ng w

ith th

e si

te o

f deg

radi

ng s

exua

l-v--1

> .)<

!ty

with

out

chal

leng

ing

the

mor

alis

ing

des~

riptio

n o~

~ex

ualit

y 1<(

,v-t,,·,;

)_' ·it

self,

~o~

lston

~cra

fL.se

.ts-;-

-l!J2

._bg

<1.r.

t.b:e

.;iku

:1g_

c,o.n

d1ti~

n~-fo

r x:i

~ 1'-"

_ ,.,.i.~

:2 w

omfil

.S.J1

J2er

ation

--=--a

...l1.

ttle._

g_ea

tb,._

t.h_e

__ dea

th ... 0

Ldes

1re,

~tbe

" e;,-.

/ Jr.

Y yd"

de

ath

of fe

mal

e pl

easu

re.

--··--

·----·

------

-__

__

__

__

__

Vo.

{ 0vl"

' /E

ven

ifA

Viir

dica

tioni

s·pre

occu

pied

with

the

sexu

al a

s th

e si

te

\ an

d ,so

urce

of

wom

en's

opp

ress

ion,

why

is

wom

an's

lov

e of

.

leas

~re

so d

ee _

lµtig

maJ

lz_e

..d_r

uhe

si~

!_~

er d

egra

dati~

}lln

--·

refu

smg

to i

nter

pret

wom

en's

unb

ound

ed a

esir

e as

a n

atur

al

mar

k of

sex

ual d

iffer

ence

or t

he a

ppro

pria

te p

reoc

cupa

tion

of h

er

med

iate

d pl

ace

in t

he s

ocia

l, W

olls

tone

craf

t is

resi

stin

g a

who

le

rang

e of

bou

rgeo

is p

ositi

ons

arou

nd g

ende

r se

xual

ity,

posi

tions

ra

pidl

y ha

rden

ing

into

the

for

ms

of b

ourg

eois

mor

ality

tha

t w

ould

dom

inat

e ni

nete

enth

cen

tury

rulin

g cl

ass

gend

er re

latio

ns.

Her

deb

ate

with

Rou

ssea

u is

cent

ral,

beca

use,

like

her

, Rou

ssea

u w

ishe

d to

har

ness

his

gen

der

ideo

logi

es t

o ra

dica

l so

cial

and

po

litic

al t

heor

ies.

Rou

ssea

u's

Emile

is

the

plac

e w

here

he

spel

ls

out t

he th

eore

tical

and

soc

ially

exp

edie

nt p

rem

ises

that

exc

lude

d ·

wom

en f

rom

equ

al p

artic

ipat

ion

in t

he e

nlig

hten

men

t pr

ojec

ts

for

hum

an l

iber

atio

n an

d in

divi

dual

tra

nsce

nden

ce.

Arg

uing

for

the

sexu

al a

ssym

etry

of

natu

ral

endo

wm

ent,

Rou

ssea

u in

sist

ed

that

wom

en's

'fi

rst

prop

ensi

ties'·

rev

eale

d an

exc

ess

of s

ensi

-bi

lity,

eas

ily 'c

orru

pted

or

perv

erte

d by

too

muc

h in

dulg

ence

.' In

ci

vil

soci

ety

wom

en's

am

oral

wea

knes

s m

ust

not

be g

iven

its

na

tura

l sco

pe J

est i

t lea

d, a

s it

inev

itabl

y m

ust,

to a

dulte

ry a

nd it

s cr

imin

al

cons

eque

nce,

th

e fo

istin

g of

ill

egiti

mat

e he

irs

on

bour

geoi

s hu

sban

ds.

The

rem

edy

is bo

rrow

ed b

ack

from

the

te

chni

ques

of

aris

tocr

atic

des

potis

m,

else

whe

re i

n R

ouss

eau

so

viol

ently

con

dem

ned:

wom

en ' .

.. m

ust b

e su

bjec

t all

thei

r liv

es,

40

to t

he m

ost

cons

tant

and

sev

ere

rest

rain

t, w

hich

is

that

of

deco

rum

; it

is th

eref

ore,

nec

essa

ry t

o ac

cust

om t

hem

ear

ly t

o su

ch c

onfi

nem

ent

that

it

may

not

aft

erw

ards

cos

t th

em t

oo

dear

....

We

shou

ld t

each

the

m a

bove

all

thin

gs t

o la

y a

due

rest

rain

t on

them

selv

es.n

u A

ckno

wle

dgin

g, w

ith c

roco

dile

tea

rs,

the

artif

icia

lity

of· t

he

soci

al, w

hile

ins

istin

g on

its

nece

ssity

, Rou

ssea

u in

voke

s a

tradi

-tio

nally

unr

egen

erat

e Ev

e pa

rtne

red

to a

n A

dam

who

has

bee

n gi

ven

back

his

pre

-lap

sari

an s

tatu

s. 'T

he li

fe o

f a m

odes

t wom

an

is re

duce

d, b

y ou

r ab

surd

ins

titut

ions

, to

a p

erpe

tual

con

flict

w

ith h

erse

lf: b

ut i

t is

just

tha

t th

is s

ex s

houl

d pa

rtak

e of

the

su

ffer

ings

whi

ch a

rise

from

tho

se e

vils

it h

ath

caus

ed u

s.'11

Em

ile

lays

out

, in

fas

cina

ting

deta

il, t

he r

adic

al p

roje

ct f

or t

he e

duca

-tio

n an

d ad

ult

gend

er r

elat

ions

of

an e

nlig

hten

ed b

ourg

eois

ie,

a pr

ojec

t tha

t de

pend

ed fo

r its

suc

cess

on

the

loca

tion

of a

ffec

tion

and

sexu

ality

in

the

fam

ily,

as w

ell

as t

he c

onst

ruct

ion

of t

he

bour

geoi

s in

divi

dual

as

the

agen

t of

fre

e w

ill.

The

stn 1

ggle

be

twee

n re

ason

and

pas

sion

has

an

inte

rnal

and

ext

erna

l exp

res-

sion

in

Rou

ssea

u, a

nd t

he t

rium

ph o

f re

ason

is

ensu

red

by t

he

soci

al n

atur

e of

pas

sion

. Si

nce

mal

e de

sire

nee

ds a

n ob

ject

, an

d w

omen

are

tha

t in

finite

ly p

rovo

cativ

e ob

ject

, th

e so

cial

sub

-or

dina

tion

of w

omen

to t

he w

ill o

f m

en e

nsur

es th

e co

ntai

nmen

t of

pas

sion

. In

this

way

Rou

ssea

u lin

ks th

e po

tent

ial a

nd fr

eedo

m

of t

he n

ew m

iddl

e cl

ass

to t

he s

imul

tane

ous

supp

ress

ion

and

expl

oita

tion

of w

omen

's n

atur

e.

, R

ouss

eau

play

s on

the

alr

eady

con

stru

cted

sex

ual

cate

gori

za-

tion

of w

omen

into

two

grou

ps -

the

virt

uous

and

dep

rave

d. B

y in

sist

ing

that

the

se d

ivis

ions

ar

e so

cial

·ra

ther

th

an

natu

ral

cons

truc

ts -

wom

en a

re n

ot d

epra

ved

by n

atur

e -

Rou

ssea

u ca

n ar

gue

for

soci

al a

nd c

ivil

rest

rain

ts

on w

omen

. M

iche

l Fo

ucau

lt po

ints

out

tha

t th

e pr

oces

s of

con

stru

ctin

g w

omen

firs

t· an

d fo

rem

ost

as a

sex

ual

subj

ect

was

in

itsel

f a

clas

s bo

und

proj

ect:

~ .

it w

as i

n th

e "b

ourg

eois

" or

aris

tocr

atic

fam

ily t

hat

the_

_s_g

_xua

lity

of

child

ren

ana-

-m1o

lesc

ents

---w

as-f

irst

-pro

b-le

mat

ized

....

the

firs

t fig

ure

to b

e -in

v§te

clkt

h·e-

depl

oym

enro

f se

xual

ity,

one

of t

he f

irst

to b

e "s

ex

uali

ze~

the-u

idle

" ---.:_

.

---·

-··'

----

----

----

---

10.

Jean

-Jac

ques

Rou

ssea

u,

Emile

, B

arba

ra F

oxle

y,

tr.,

Lond

on,

1974

, p.

332

. Pa

ssag

es f

rom

Emi

le ca

n al

l be

fou

nd i

n Bo

ok V

of

this

edi

tion.

How

ever

I

have

cite

d R

ouss

eau

as q

uote

d by

Wol

lsto

necr

aft

who

com

men

ts o

n la

rge

chun

ks o

f Bo

ok V

in A

Vin

dica

tion.

11

. Ib

id.,

pp. 3

32-3

.

Wild

Nig

hts

41

wom

an.

She

inha

bit~

the_

oute

.u:d

g.e.

_oLt

he-.'

.~.w

.orld

", i

n w

hich

s'

neal

way

snad

to ap

pear

as

valu

e, a

nd o

f th

e fa

mily

, w

here

she

w

as a

ssig

ned

a ne

w id

entit

y ch

arge

d w

ith c

onju

gal

and

pare

ntal

ob

ligat

ion.

'12

Mar

y W

olls

tone

craf

t sto

od w

aist

-dee

p in

the

se a

lrea

dy e

stab

-lis

hed

and

emer

gent

sex

ual

ideo

logi

es.

At

the

time

she

was

w

ritin

g A

Vind

icat

ion

she

was

nei

ther

will

ing

nor

able

to m

ount

a

who

lesa

le c

ritiq

ue e

ither

of

bour

geoi

s se

xual

mor

es o

r th

e w

ider

ar

eas

of g

ende

r re

latio

ns.

H~_

li.fu

_was

....sh

o_1:

tl_y_

to_g

Q..J

hmug

h ii-

Qffi

~_e..

r_J..

..rap

id_c

hang

es,_w

._oich

.. w..o

.uld,_

ironi

call;

y:, __

mfil

kJ1e

.r as

' on

e of

the

'de

grad

ed'

wom

en_s

o__r

eroo

rsel

e.ss

ly._

pillo

ried.

-in..h

er

text

. A

yea

r an

d a

half

aft

er h

er e

ssay

was

pub

lishe

d sh

e w

as

-rr.v

fog -

wit

h a

youn

g A

mer

ican

, G

ilber

t Im

lay,

in

Fran

ce;

two

year

s la

ter

she

was

an

unm

arri

ed m

othe

r. A

Vind

icat

ion

is a

wat

ersh

ed i

p he

r lif

e an

d th

ough

t, bu

t th

is c

risis

is m

arke

d in

a

curi

ousl

y w

ilful

way

. Ibe

_t~L

e.x~

~-~.

?_yj

_g~n

t.?2:

tag9

1Ji~

rn.J

o th

e se

xual

; it

exjig

8era

~s t

he _i

~.Q

Jtan

ce __ .Q

f_ t_

~~-~

~~su

al_i

n th

e ev

~iyJ

j~il\

'.Erfi

eh,_

}!!lf

L!>~

.~X

~Y-.$

._!~

_~m

RetP

-ro0.

1:!!!

fl--~

:95'.

!Y

aoou

!._!~

e_ru

p~~~

E]g-

rorc

e of

~em

ale_

sexu

ality

._B

ot~

Emile

and

A

Vind

icat

ion

shar

e a

deep

am

biva

lenc

e ab

out

sexu

ality

. Im

ages

of

----

--.-

---···-

-----:

:c,:--

·'"""-·

--.. ,..

,-d

)iCnl

seas

e.,_

deca

y an

d an

arr.~

_pcw

ei'I_

im a

s_a_

sym

oolic

µnde

r-te

xt i

n bo

th w

orks

, to

o f~

eque

1!tly

loc

at~d

_jp_

wom

en)~

,sex

ual

bein

g ra

th~r

.Jban

.Jn._

c;g1y

,Jief

eici~

!';~u

akpr

nc:;t

ic:;e.

~ Th

is d

ista

ste

is , ~

asiv

ely

art

icul

ated

in A

Vin

dica

tion,

adu

mbr

ated

on

the

first

pa

ge w

ith a

n ar

rest

ing

desc

ript

ion

of F

renc

h ge

nder

rel

atio

ns a

s 'th

e ve

ry e

ssen

ce o

f se

nsua

lity'

dom

inat

ed b

y 'a

kin

d of

sen

ti-m

enta

l lu

st'

whi

ch i

s se

t ag

ains

t th

e id

eal

of '

pers

onal

res

erve

, an

d s~

_c;.r

.e.d

.-res

pecL

foL.

dean

lines

s ... a

nd.

delic

acy-

_in _

_ QQ!

!l_~s

tic

life .

. ?.-1

:1 -The

imag

es o

f se

xual

ity th

roug

hout

are

so

grip

ping

and

-----.

, c6

mpu

lsiv

e th

at it

is h

ard

to t

ear

ones

elf

away

to

the

less

viv

id

"\

/ an

alys

is t

hat

insi

sts,

with

com

men

dabl

e vi

gour

, th

at th

ese

filth

y )

'·-.h

abits

are

a s

ocia

l co

nstr

uctio

n, f

oist

ed o

n ea

ch g

ener

atio

n of

/,

/ w

o~l3

ymal

e-cl

omir

rate

d-an

d-m

ale=

orie

ntat

ed-s

ocie

.ty. ...

----

----

--·

The

plac

e of

fe

mal

e se

xual

ity

in

A Vi

ndic

atio

n is

ov

er-

dete

rmin

ed b

y po

litic

al a

s w

ell a

s so

cial

his

tory

. Lik

e m

any

of th

e pr

ogre

ssiv

e vo

ices

of

the

late

eig

htee

nth

cent

ury,

Wol

lsto

necr

aft

had

built

her

dre

ams

of a

new

soc

iety

on

the

foun

datio

n of

12.

Mic

hel

Fouc

ault,

Tl1e

Hist

ory

of S

exua

lity:

Vol

ume

1: An

/11tr

oduc

tio11

, Lo

ndon

, 19

79, p

. 121

. 13

. W

olls

tone

craf

t, A

Vind

icatio

n, p

p. 3

-4.

42

Rou

ssea

u's

Socia

l Co

ntra

ct an

d Es

say

on I

nequ

ality

. R

ouss

eau'

s w

ritin

gs,

inso

far

as t

hey

spok

e ab

out

hum

an b

eing

s ra

ther

tha

n m

en,

offe

red

cold

rea

son

war

med

with

fee

ling

in a

mix

ture

tha

t w

as v

ery

attra

ctiv

e to

th

e ex

cita

ble

radi

cal

tem

pera

men

ts o

f W

oll~

tone

craf

t's

gene

ratio

n.

Rou

ssea

u,

Pain

e w

rote

in

17

91,

expr

esse

d 'a

lov

elin

ess

of s

entim

ent

in f

avor

of

liber

ty,

that

ex

cite

s re

spec

t and

ele

vate

s th

e hu

man

facu

lties

' -a

judg

emen

t w

idel

y sh

ared

. H

ow

unlo

vely

th

en,

for

Wol

lsto

necr

aft

to

cons

ider

th

at i

n Em

ile

Rou

ssea

u de

liber

c_!te

ly

with

olds

fro

m

wom

en b

ecau

se o

f th

e 'd

iffer

ence

of

sex'

all

that

is p

rom

ised

to

men

. R

ouss

eau'

s ge

nera

l pr

ejud

ices

and

rec

omm

enda

tions

for

w

omen

-fu

nctio

nal,

dom

estic

edu

catio

n, n

un-l

ike

soci

aliz

atio

n,

rest

rict

ed

activ

ity

and

virt

ual

inca

rcer

atio

n in

th

e ho

me

-co

llude

d w

ith t

he g

ende

r bi

as a

nd a

dvic

e of

mor

e re

actio

nary

bo

urge

ois

auth

o~s,

as w

ell a

s so

ciet

y at

larg

e. T

he s

ense

in w

hich

R

ouss

eau'

s pr

escr

iptio

ns w

ere

)Jec

omin

g th

e do

min

ant v

iew

can

be

hea

rd i

n th

e di

ffer

ent

imag

inar

y re

ader

s ad

dres

sed

by t

he

text

s. In

the

sec

tion

on w

omen

Em

ile s

lips

in a

nd o

ut o

f a

de-

fens

ive

post

ure,

arg

uing

, if

only

tac

tical

ly,

with

an

anon

ymou

s fe

min

ist

oppo

nent

for

the

im

posi

tion

of a

str

icte

r re

gim

e on

w

omen

. Wol

lsto

necr

aft t

oo is

on

the

defe

nsiv

e bu

t her

com

posi

te

read

er-a

ntag

onis

t w

as ·a

soc

iety

tha

t be

lieve

d in

and

fol

low

ed

Rou

ssea

u's

nove

l adv

ice

to t

he le

tter.

Emile

off

ered

its

idea

s as

a

refo

rm o

f an

d re

actio

n to

lib

eral

ide

as o

n fe

mal

e ed

ucat

ion

and

beha

viou

r. Th

irty

yea

rs o

n, A

Vin

dica

tion

sugg

este

d th

at f

emal

e se

xual

mor

ality

had

bec

ome

laxe

r, op

erat

ing

unde

r ju

st s

uch

a re

gim

e of

rest

rain

t and

coe

rcio

n as

Rou

ssea

u ha

d la

id o

ut.

The

proj

ect

of E

mile

was

to

outli

ne t

he s

ocia

l an

d se

xual

re

latio

ns o

f an

ide

aliz

ed b

ourg

eois

soc

iety

by

givi

ng a

n ac

coun

t of

the

educ

atio

n an

d co

urts

hip

of it

s yo

uth.

A V

indi

catio

n ap

pro-

pria

tes

part

of

this

pro

ject

, th

e el

abor

ate

set

of d

istin

ctio

ns

betw

een

the

man

ners

and

mor

als

of th

e ar

isto

crac

y an

d th

ose

of

the

new

m

iddl

e cl

ass.

The

anti-

aris

tocr

atic

crit

ique

is

fore

-gr

ound

ed a

nd s

et i

n fo

cus

by t

he F

renc

h R

evol

utio

n: i

ts e

arly

pr

ogre

ss e

xpos

ed t

he c

orru

ptio

n of

the

rul

ing

clas

ses

to a

ver

y w

ide

and

rece

ptiv

e au

dien

ce. W

hen

Wol

lsto

necr

aft s

ugge

sts

that

va

in,

idle

and

sen

suou

s m

iddl

e-cl

ass

wom

en a

re to

be

com

pare

d w

ith t

he w

hole

of

the

here

dita

ry a

risto

crac

y w

ho l

ive

only

for

pl

easu

re s

he s

trik

es a

t tw

o po

pula

r ta

rget

s. W

hen

she

iden

tifie

s th

e ae

sthe

ticiz

ed a

nd a

rtific

ial

lang

uage

of

the

rulin

g cl

ass

-'a

de

luge

of f

alse

sen

timen

ts a

nd o

vers

tret

ched

feel

ings

', 'd

ropp

ing

Wild

Nig

hts

43

glib

ly fr

om t

he to

ngue

' as

the

lang

uage

of n

ovel

s an

d le

tters

, _sh

e im

plie

s th

at it

is

also

the

lan

guag

e of

wom

en,

or o

f th

e so

CJety

ad

ultr

ess.

At

one

leve

l sh

e is

sim

ply

prod

ucin

g a

gend

ered

and

er

otic

ized

ver

sion

of P

aine

's fa

mou

s at

tack

on

Bur

ke's

pros

e st

yle

and

sent

imen

ts, i

n Ri

ghts

of M

an,

part

1. A

t ano

ther

, the

mas

sing

of

the

se m

etap

hors

of

deba

sed

and

disg

ustin

g fe

m~l

e se

xual

i'.y,

ev

en w

hen

they

are

ost

ensi

bly

dire

cted

at t

he b

ehav

iour

of a

dis

-cr

edite

d cl

ass

has

the

effe

ct o

f do

ublin

g th

e se

xual

ref

eren

ce.

Pain

e's

com

men

t -'H

e pi

ties

the

plum

age

and

forg

ets

the

dyin

g'

bird

' -al

read

y ca

rrie

s se

xual

and

_g~_

!}_d

_ere

d-m

eani

ng~B

ecau

se a

---...

,.,

natu

rally

w

horis

~_!'l

.nd-

-dis

rupt

ing

fem

ale

sexu

ality

w

as

so

', pr

ofou

gdly

---a

·par

t of

tra

ditio

nal

sym

bol

and

refe

renc

e, u

sed

to

/ ta

rnis

h w

hate

ver

obje

ct i

t w

as a

pplie

d to

, it

beca

me

extre

mel

y_.,.

.. / /c

liffic

ult f

or ,W

olls

tone

craf

t to

keep

her

use

of

such

imag

es t

igdt

6 /

a so

cial

and

env

iron

men

tal

anal

ysis

. Sh

e he

r~~l

f_js.

aff

ecte

d by

\..

..__t

-he.

..tra

ditio

naLa

ssoG

iatio

n:---

·--·--

-----

1

In A

Vin

dica

tion

wom

en's

exc

essi

ve i

nter

est i

n th

emse

lves

as

obje

cts

and

subj

ects

of

desi

re i

s th

eori

zed

as a

n ef

fect

-of

the

ideo

logi

cal

insc

ript

ion

of m

ale

desi

re o

n fe

mal

e su

bjec

ts w

ho,

as

a re

sult,

bea

r a d

oubl

ed li

bidi

nal b

urde

n. B

ut th

eJan

guag

e of

that

·

sobe

r: an

alys

is is

mor

e in

nova

tory

, les

s se

cure

, an

d le

ss c

onno

ta-

tive

than

the

met

apho

rica

l m

atrix

use

d to

poi

nt a

nd il

lust

rate

it.

As

a co

nseq

uenc

e, th

~~-.!

E..? .

.. 9:JP

S@DL

~JiR

P-2g

e .. b.a

c;;k.i

.UiQ

__ ~--~

ore

natu

l~ ~n

drea

ctio

nary

_vie

w __ o

f wom

en, a

nd.a_

col

laps

eoft

he

two

part

s of

the

met

ap~o

r~ in

_~o--

~~~-~

-.<?.!

h~::..

.!~:1~

: .. y\'.<

?}1§

!9.p.

ecraf

t tri

es to

arg

ue a

gain

st r~

5.~ra!

.n.! .

'.1_1:,

~-~!:E

en1!:!f

!_C_~

_lJy _

c.~!11

.:Pa!1

.~R-th

e si

tuat

ion-

of"w

cim

eri'f

o sl

aves

and

Jae

-dog

s .. -:

-.' ..

. fC

Jr. se

rvitu

de

nofon

iy~aei

iises

the in

divi

dual

, bu t

its

~ffe

cts

~e~m

. t()_

be t

rans

-m

ittec

i"to

pos

teri

ty.

Con

side

ring

the

len

gth

of ti

1ne

th.at

wom

en 1

11,,w

, ~,. 1

_

nave

··hee

n .. d

epen

dent

, is

. it

surp

dsir1

g: t]

:laf s

ome

,,of. t

hem

hug

th

eir

chai

ns; ·

and·

faw

n lik

e th~

_.5.pc

1.11ie

l. n.

· -~

C1

Cis

.. the

.. iri

efi:i

riym

fr as

soci

atio

n of

'sl

':".~

~--:~

om~n

,' ~1

2am

el'_

that

t_e

_11_

cls,_J

o.Jmg

er, r

atlie

r:. tl

ian:

·rne:

~int

ende

d m

eta-

phQ1:_

i_c:_d

_i.5.tc1

._n~e,

th~_

}_i~~

n_~5

.s_c1

ng. __ 1

1J}J

j}.en

ess !

Jetw

een

them

. Th

e sa

me

effe

ct o

ccur

s w

hen

Wol

lsto

necr

aft b

orro

ws

a ch

unk

of c

onte

mpo

rary

radi

cal a

naly

sis

of t

he m

ob to

sup

port

her

pos

i-.

tion

that

wom

en n

eed

the

sam

e fr

eedo

m a

nd li

bera

l edu

catio

n as

m

en.

In e

nlig

hten

men

t th

eory

a l

ibid

inal

eco

nom

y is

bro

ught

to

bear

on

subo

rdin

ated

gro

ups:

mas

s so

cial

vio

lenc

e is

see

n as

the

14.

Ibid

., p.

£2.

. 44 dire

ct r

esul

t of

sev

ere

repr

essi

on,

whi

ch d

oes

not

allo

w f

or t

he

deve

lopm

ent

of

self

-con

trol

or

self

gove

rnan

ce.

The

mob

's m

otiv

e m

ay b

e a

quas

i-ra

tiona

l ve

ngea

nce

agai

nst

oppr

esso

rs,

but t

he tr

igge

r of

tha

t vio

lenc

e is

the

unco

ntro

lled

and

irrat

iona

l ef

fect

of

sudd

en d

e-re

pres

sion

. Se

xual

sym

bolis

m i

s al

read

y pr

efig

ured

in th

is a

naly

sis,

so

that

whe

n W

olls

tone

craf

t dra

ws

on

it as

a m

etap

hor

for

wom

en's

unc

ontr

olle

d se

xual

beh

avio

ur s

he

rein

forc

es t

he i

dent

ifica

tion

of l

oose

wom

en a

nd m

ob v

iole

nce.

'T

he b

ent b

ow r

ecoi

ls w

ith v

iole

nce,

whe

n th

e ha

nd is

sud

denl

y re

laxe

d _th

at fo

rcib

ly h

eld

it' ....

:... th

e se

xual

met

apho

r qer

e, a

s el

se-

whe

re, 1

s to

p-he

avy,

tum

blin

g, o

ut o

f con

trol,

like

the

imag

inar

y fo

rce

of fe

mal

e se

xual

ity it

self.

Her

e, a

nd a

t man

y ot

her p

oint

s in

th

e t~

xt, A

Vin

dica

tion

enha

nces

rath

er th

an re

duce

s th

e po

wer

of

fema_

le se

x~al

ity,

cons

truc

ting

it, u

nint

entio

nally

, as

an

intim

ate,

, ,a

nd 1

mm

ed1a

te t

hrea

t to

soc

ial

stab

ility

, ne

arer

tha

n th

e al

read

y u~

com

fort

ably

nea

r Pa

risi

an m

ob.

It i

s no

won

der

that

man

y nm

etee

nth-

cent

ury

fem

inis

ts,

for

who

m th

e m

ob a

nd th

e Fr

ench

R

evol

utio

n w

ere

still

pote

nt s

ymbo

ls o

f dis

orde

r, fo

und

the

book

, fo

r al

l its

ov~

rt se

xual

pur

itani

sm, d

istu

rbin

g an

d da

nger

ous.

.

The

~lur

rmg

of s

exua

l and

pol

itica

l met

apho

r so

that

sex

ualit

y 1s

effe

ctiv

ely

smea

red

all o

ver

the

soci

al r

elat

ions

und

er d

iscu

ss-

ion

. e_n

:ipha

sises

W

olls

tone

craf

t's

delib

erat

e pr

ivile

ging

of

s:n

s~°!J

1hty

and

plea

sure

as

the

ideo

logi

cal w

eapo

ns o

f pat

riarc

hy.

P1ck

mg

up o

n th

e ne

gativ

e vi

bes

abou

t fem

ale

sexu

ality

in E

mile,

sh

e be

ats

Rou

ssea

u w

ith h

is o

wn

stic

k (a

s it

seem

s) b

y m

akin

g th

e se

nsua

l bo

th v

iler

and

mor

e pe

rvas

ive

in w

omen

's li

ves

as a

re

sult

of h

i~.E

~!!~

s..~

b)' __

of~.Q

!:.1.C

.E!ti@

__ put

.. int

o.-p

rc1c

l'ice

.Wol

l __

®D

ecra

ft-t

oo w

1she

_s

bour

geoi

_~m

en

to

bg_.

filQ

J!~t

an

~·

resp

ecta

ble,

hon

est w

ives

and

goo

d m

othe

rs t

houg

h sh

e w

.ishe

s ~

toJ:i

e o

tfier

tfiiJ

:!gs~

~~ .. "

Y-e

lJ...

Yei

=-or

rly-b

r1m

agm

;ngt

~-al

l, or

alm

osC

aJJ;

-cfip

p1ed

and

tw

iste

d in

to s

exua

l m

onst

ers

by

soci

ety

as it

is c

an s

he h

ope

to p

ersu

ade

her r

eade

rs to

aba

ndon

a

gend

er sp

ecifi

c an

d de

form

ing

educ

atio

n fo

r fem

inin

ity.

· Y

et th

e m

ost i

ncis

ive

and

inno

vativ

e el

emen

ts o

f A V

indi

catio

n ~r

e d~

eply

bou

nd in

to it

s an

alys

is o

f th

e co

nstr

uctio

n of

gen

der

m c

hild

hood

. The

boo

k gi

ves

us a

com

plex

and

det

aile

d ac

coun

t of

the

so_

cial

an~

psyc

hic

proc

esse

s by

whi

ch· g

ende

r id

eolo

gies

be

com

e m

tern

ahze

d ad

ult

subj

ectiv

ity.

This

acc

ount

is

spre

ad

acro

ss t

he t

wo-

hund

red-

odd

page

s of

the

boo

k an

d is

extra

-or

dina

ry b

oth

as o

bser

vatio

n an

d as

the

ory.

Her

e is

the

child

-ho

od o

f litt

le g

irls

brou

ght u

p, a

la R

ouss

eau,

to

be w

omen

only

_:

I

\ ,I ' '

Wild

Nig

hts

45

'Eve

ry t

hing

the

y se

e or

hea

r se

rves

to

fix i

mpr

essi

0ns,

cal

l fo

rth

emot

ions

, an

d as

soci

ate

idea

s, th

at g

ive

a se

xual

cha

ract

er t

o th

e ~i

nd.

Fals

e no

tions

of_

beau

ty a

nd d

elic

acy

stop

the

gro

wth

of

thei

r hm

bs ~

nd p

rodu

ce

s~ck

ly s

oren

ess,

rat

her

than

del

icac

y of

org

ans

.. ·. T

~1s

crue

l as

~ocia

tl_on

of

idea

s, w

hich

eve

ry t

hing

con

spire

s to

tw

ist

mto

a!l

thei

r h_

ab1ts

of

thin

king

, or

, to

spe

ak w

ith m

ore

prec

i-si

on, o

f fee

lmg,

rec

eive

s ne

w fo

rce

whe

n th

ey b

egin

to a

ct a

littl

e fo

r th

emse

lves

; fo

r th

ey t

hen

perc

eive

tha

t it

is on

ly t

hrou

gh t

heir

addr

ess

to e

xcite

em

otio

ns in

men

tha

t ple

asur

e an

d po

wer

are

to b

e ob

tain

ed. 11

;

It is

exa

gger

_ate

d; it

is e

ven

fant

asy

up to

a p

oint

. Yet

rea

ding

this

pa

ssag

e, I

was

bot

h sh

aken

by

its e

loqu

ence

and

pri

cked

by

its

accu

racy

. O

nly

an u

nusu

al 'n

ativ

e vi

gour

' of

min

d ca

n ov

ertu

rn s

uch

a vi

ciou

s so

cial

con

stru

ctio

n, f

or:

'So

duct

ile is

the

und

erst

andi

ng,

and

y~t.

so s

t~bb

orn,

tha

t th

e as

soci

atio

ns w

hich

_de

pend

on

adve

ntiti

ous

. Circ

umsta

nce_

s, du

ring

the

per

iod

that

the

bod

y ta

kes

to

arr'.

ve

at m

atur

ity,

can

seld

om b

e di

sent

angl

ed b

y re

~son

. O

ne_1

de~

calls

up

anot

her,

its o

ld a

ssoc

iate

, an

d m

emor

y fa

ithfu

l to

f1r

st 1m

pres

s1on

~ ..

. re

trace

s th

em w

ith m

echa

nica

l ex

actn

ess.

' 16

Her

e, i

n pa

rt,

is th

e ro

man

tic t

heor

y of

the

unc

onsc

ious

, its

op

erat

ions

lai

d ba

re t

o dr

aw a

par

ticul

arly

ble

ak c

oncl

usio

n ab

out t

he fa

te o

f' w

omen

. '

The

nee~

to e

xagg

erat

e th

e ef

fect

s of

a g

ende

r bi

ased

rea

ring

an

d ed

ucat

ion

!ed

,Wol

lsto

necr

aft

to o

vere

mph

asiz

e th

e im

port

-an

c: ~

f se

xual

ity 1

1: w

omen

's l

ives

~ A

Vind

icat

ion

is h

ardl

y a

real

istic

_ re

cons

truc

tion·

o~ t

he d

ay t

o da

y ac

tiviti

es · a

nd p

re-

occu

patio

ns

of

bour

gem

s w

omen

, th

e au

thor

he

rsel

f no

t ex

cept

ed. R

athe

r it

is an

abs

trac

t for

mul

atio

n of

the

sort

of s

ocia

l an

d ps

ychi

c te

nden

cies

that

a o

ne-s

ided

reac

tiona

ry s

ocia

lizat

ion

coul

d pr

oduc

e. I

t is

unfo

rtun

ate

t ol

lsto

necr

aft

chos

e to

1

fight

Rou

sse~

~~

_bip

_-~

~~

~..

.!!1

~~

Jing

_hiu

~gm

Qf_

a ~

-!~

.::~

.J~

.!ID

IJ.!

!2_

l~Y

~_fa

cL@

!her

.-tha

n_i,c

;l.~_

olog

i\:al

fic

tion._

Wom

an s

rea

son

may

Ee

the

psyc

hic

hero

ine

of A

Vin

di-

catw

n'. b

ut it

s go

thic

vill

ain,

a p

olym

orph

ous

perv

erse

sex

ualit

y,

cree

pmg

out o

f eve

ry p

arag

raph

and

wor

min

g its

way

into

eve

ry

15.

Ibid

., p.

117

. 16

. Ib

id.,

p. 1

16.

I

46

war

m c

orne

r of

the

text

, se

ems

in t

he e

nd to

win

out

. It

is ag

ain

too

easy

to f

orge

t tha

t thi

s su

ffus

ing

desi

re is

a p

erm

anen

t mal

e co

nspi

racy

to

keep

wom

en p

antin

g an

d de

pend

ent

as w

ell

as

hous

e-bo

und

and

preg

nant

. W

hat t

he a

rgum

ent m

oves

tow

ards

, ' b

ut n

eveJ

qujt

earr

ives

at,

is th

e co

nclu

sion

th

aU

t~

~

that

mus

t b~

s_o_

nJ:m

lled __

and_

con±

ained

_iLW

,Qffi

E;L\

_a,r.

e.Jo ..

btdr

ee

and

ratio

nal.

Tbis

con

clus

ion

ca._

~ot

be r

each

ed b

ecau

se a

n id

ealiz

ed b

our~

~rna

le..i

s._~

~tan

aara

-low

ards

w fo

ch-w

omen

, :

:,9re

_gro

.ping

t.. __ as

w~_

~_th

~....

!:~~~

!l. .. !

~efm

Tof

nhei

rkne

es:-

Mal

e .

desi

re _m

ay b

e"de

stni

ctiv

e. to

wom

en~~

l5ur

irre

mai

ns-a

-yym

·~t-

-~if

ive ~

_!.

.~_

lliy

. A

wid

er e

duca

tion

an~

_era

s-bl

untin

g or

ays

mto

the

pub

lic w

orld

of

wor

k an

d po

litic

s ke

eps

the

ratio

nal

in c

ontro

l of

the

sen

sual

in

men

, an

d is

the

reco

m-

-.A

men

ded

rem

edy

for

wom

en t

oo. y

Vol

lston

ecra

f_t __

thou

ght

gend

er

~~-j

"\.d

iff:

:.~~~

~ial

ly c

onst

ruct

ed _1:

iii_t -~

h_ef

ou1:

d _pr

acfic

a~1~

-fi~t

hing

-..

,'e' lfo

-bl<

e m

soc

ially

con

stru

cted

fem

m1m

ty.J,

mth

-.rna

scul

m1t

y..1

.t.F-

f!S

y...., ¥4

;" ~i

te·a

~nc:

·:,~

~s:c

ulim

(:::

:_~o

~~~-

-a::,

._f~

-~~§

.JqI!K

il_~-

!~ey

'

· "'

ctcm

'fn:u

nt a

ria k

ill.

reC

llie

re c

oula

l5e

noth

mg

good

abo

ut

fem

m1z

eci"

men

~sin

ce··f

f1ea

efin

ition

s of

the

fem

inin

eava

ilabl

e in

----------

--··

· --·

········

·······a

···.---

·-··· 1

A

Vind

icatio

n ar

e sh

ot tf

iroug

fi w

1ili

aenu

mam

zmg

an

1mm

ora

'sen

sual

icy.

It's

not

sur

pnsm

g "t

hat

wom

en··t

ogef

fier

-g1

r1s m

·o

oara

mg

scho

ols

and

wom

en in

the

hom

e -

can

only

get

up

to

unsa

vory

pe

rson

al f

amili

ariti

es,

'nas

ty,

or

imm

odes

t ha

bits

' Th

is d

escr

iptio

n ba

cks

up a

n ar

gum

ent,

poss

ibly

for

cefu

l in

its

ow

n tim

e, f

or m

ixed

edu

catio

n an

d a

free

r as

soci

atio

n of

adu

lt m

en a

nd w

omen

; it r

ound

s of

f the

den

igra

tion

of w

omen

's w

orld

in

A V

i ndic

ati0.1

1:._ ·

----

--...

. ____ .

., • ......

..__ __

__ .--

----

--·--

---·-

-~ ....

,,---'

-·--'i

~icc

illy,

it

is"-th

e re

volu

tiona

ry m

omen

t, w

ith i

ts e

upho

ric

faith

in t

otal

soc

ial t

rans

form

atio

n th

at p

erm

its W

olls

tone

craf

t to

oblit

erat

e w

omen

and

fem

inin

ity

in

thei

r un

refo

rmed

st

ate.

A

lthou

gh

A Vi

ndica

tion

outli

nes

a lib

eral

an

d un

segr

egat

ed

· pro

gram

me

for

fem

ale

educ

atio

n an

d a

wid

er s

cope

for

wom

en's

ne

wly

dev

elop

ed r

easo

n in

the

pub

lic a

nd p

riva

te w

orld

, it.h

as

\if~\~ \

;l no

thin

co

mpl

i~nt

ary_

!<?Y

~Y..E

fJ.Q

Ut

W,Q

!!!.~~

-a§ __ t

~«:y

__~r

~,_I

!i~ir_

. .. \JV

""{\ 0

~':

ov

er e

at~

__ s_g

nsib

ility

is-

neve

r .. se

en.a

s .. p.

oten

tiaJJ

y_cr

.~_y

ve._

~e

"/ 0;;,r

-.F · _s

an.se

e ... l:1

Q.w.

J.he-.

mor

n!. a

n.al y

sis_

and.

fb~ __

.S.Q9

~.L..9.

.eli.<:X

}£!!.Q

.!l.!:~.

A \0 't.f

D'{

)'.'.i.n

fi.!_

catio

_l:!..

C.m

!!iJ2

~app

rop..

!~!.~

d.fo.r

..i1_~

Q!~.

CO

!].~

~~iv

e so

~"}

c.-\

th~

~h

-~

~}

. adv

o~a t

e. a~

~~::.

:_.~

f_ :::

<:.:~_

ise f

or -~

6men

' s ad

oles

cent

bod

ies

and

mm

ds,

buL-

&'o

uld

conf

inet

nem

-to-

· a

de·;

;~1~

~m

esfi

~sp

here

··as

wi.

ves ~

an,Cm

ot~7s"

~-·-":·

-·-,"-,.

,---1--

----rh

e no

vels

·of-

Jane

-·)\u

ste:

n, W

olls

tone

craf

t's c

onte

mpo

rary

,

Wild

Nig

hts

47

C

are

the

mos

t ob

viou

s im

med

iate

exa

mpl

e of

a

cons

erva

tive

\ re

cupe

ratio

n of

Wol

lsto

necr

aft.

North

ange

r Ab

bey

para

phra

ses

Wol

lsto

necr

aft o

n th

e da

nger

s to

the

you

ng fe

mal

e re

ader

of

the

goth

ic a

nd s

entim

enta

l no

vel,

and

Man

sfiel

d Pa

rk r

eads

in m

any,

pl

aces

like

a f

ictio

nal

rew

.o rk

ing

of A

Vin

dica

tion.

Pos

sibl

y in

flu8

gn

ce,

part

ly m

ere

conv

erge

nce,

the

voi

ces

of t

he t

wo

wom

en

who

se p

oliti

cs w

ere

deep

ly o

ppos

ed, e

cho

each

oth

er. I

t is

Wol

l-st

onec

raft

who

wri

tes

that

'whi

le w

omen

live

, as

it w

ere

by th

eir

pers

onal

cha

rms,

how

can

we

expe

ct t

hem

to

disc

harg

e th

ose

enno

blin

g du

ties

whi

ch e

qual

ly re

quire

exe

rtion

and

sel

f-de

nial

', bu

t it m

ight

as

easi

ly b

e A

uste

n on

Mar

y C

raw

ford

. In

the

sam

e se

nten

ce,

and

in

muc

h th

e sa

me

term

s,

Wol

lsto

necr

aft

deno

unce

s he

redi

tary

aris

tocr

acy.

The

app

ropr

iatio

n of

muc

h of

W

olls

tone

craf

t's

writ

ing

for

cons

erva

tive

soci

al

and

polit

ical

id

eolo

gies

wen

t un

ackn

owle

dged

bec

ause

of

her

outc

ast

soci

al

stat

us a

er

~yo

lutio

nary

-sym

path

ies,

_. ___

______

_ _

ever

the]

ess,

m

id-c

entu

ry

wom

en

wri

ters

·an

:a··1

emin

isJ:s,

/(

o~ki

ng fo

r w

ays

to le

gitim

ize

thei

r fem

inis

m a

nd th

eir

sexu

ality

;\ · '

as w

ell

as t

heir

des

ire t

o w

rite

them

bot

h ou

t to

geth

er,

fo_l

}..!).

d)

(-~_

mall

com

f~-:

-,:L

Vin

dica

tion,

.. whe

re--

the-

:0r:a

tive-

-and

·the-

affe

c-~

:rve

-sel

f ar

e sp

ht u

p an

d se

para

ted.

In

fictw

n an

d po

etry

, th

at

disc

ursi

ve s

pace

ope

n to

wom

en b

ut s

helte

red

from

the

har

shes

t ju

dgem

ents

of

Vic

toria

n m

oral

ity,

late

rom

antic

wom

en w

riter

s,

as s

ick

of W

olls

tone

craf

t's r

egim

e, i

f th

ey k

new

it,

as s

he h

ad

been

sic

k of

Rou

ssea

u's,

ten

tativ

ely

bega

n to

con

stru

ct t

he i

dea

of a

lib

idin

ized

fem

ale

imag

inat

ion

and,

thr

ough

it,

wom

en's

ri

ght t

o re

ason

and

des

ire. A

utho

rity

for

such

an

unm

edia

ted

a~d

erot

iciz

ed r

elat

ion

to a

rt a

nd li

fe h

ad to

be

soug

ht in

and

sto

len

from

mal

e ro

man

tic m

anife

stos

. Not

hing

sug

gest

s mor

e un

equi

v-·

ocal

ly h

ow d

eep

the

effe

cts

of s

epar

ate

gend

er s

exua

litie

s w

ent,

than

a q

uick

look

at t

he 1

802

intr

oduc

tion

to L

yrica

l Bal

lads

aft

er a

lo

ng lo

ok a

t A

Vind

icatio

n. T

he b

ourg

eois

poe

t was

the

rom

antic

ra

dica

l inc

arna

ted.

Her

e is

Wor

dsw

orth

, lik

e M

ary

Wol

lsto

necr

aft

a su

ppor

ter

of t

he r

evol

utio

n, t

ellin

g th

e re

ader

, as

she

nev

er

coul

d, t

hat

the

poet

is

a m

an '

endu

ed w

ith m

ore

livel

y se

nsi-

bilit

y, m

ore

enth

usia

sm a

nd te

nder

ness

' tha

n ot

her

men

, 'a

man

pl

ease

d w

ith h

is o

wn

pass

ions

and

vol

ition

s, a

nd w

ho r

ejoi

ces

mor

e th

an o

ther

men

in

the

spiri

t of

life

tha

t is

in h

im. m

Th

e

17.

Will

iam

Wor

dsw

orth

and

Sam

uel

Tayl

or C

oler

idge

, Ly

rical

Bal

lads

, Lo

ndon

, 19

76, p

p. 2

55-5

6.

48

appr

opri

ate,

dem

ocra

tic s

ubje

cts

for

his

art

wer

e 'm

oral

sen

ti-m

ents

and

-a_n

imaI

-sen

sal.f

oRs'.

.. asJ

h~y

exis

te<;

l_in

_eve

ryda

y-lif

~ /W

e m

ust

rem

embe

r to

rea

d A

Vind

icat

ion

as i

ts a

utho

r h

as)

(i

nstr

ucte

d us

, as

a d

iscou

rse_;

:i.dd

ress

edrp

_c1j

i:i!Y

. Jq_

\:"or

pen_

gLth

e,

'.!Pi

ddle

i:;:J

ass:·

M6s

F'de

eply

cla

ss-b

ound

is it

s em

phas

is o

n se

xual

-ity

fn--

its i

deol

ogic

al e

xpre

ssio

n, a

s a

men

tal

form

atio

n, a

s th

e so

urce

of w

oman

's o

ppre

ssio

n. T

he e

nchi

ldin

g of

wom

en -

thei

r re

lega

tion

to t

he h

ome,

to

dom

estic

tas

ks a

nd c

once

rns,

whi

le

men

's

prod

uctiv

e la

bour

w

as

loca

ted

else

whe

re

-w

as

a de

velo

ping

phe

nom

enon

of

mid

dle-

clas

s lif

e in

the

eig

htee

nth

cent

ury.

The

sep

arat

ion

of h

ome

and

wor

k in

an

indu

stri

al

cultu

re a

ffec

ted

the

wor

king

cla

ss t

oo,

but

it w

as n

ot t

he m

en

only

who

wor

ked

outs

ide

the

hom

e: n

or w

as th

e se

xual

div

isio

n of

labo

ur a

long

thes

e lin

es a

wor

king

-cla

ss id

eal

until

wel

l on

in

the

nine

teen

th c

entu

ry.

The

rom

antic

con

cept

ion

of c

hild

hood

, al

read

y na

tura

lized

in

A Vi

ndic

atio

n, h

ad n

o pl

ace

in w

orki

ng-

clas

s lif

e. N

or d

id f

emal

e na

rcis

sism

and

a p

assi

on f

or c

loth

es

have

the

sam

e m

eani

ngs

for,

or a

bout

, w

orki

ng-c

lass

wom

en,

who

, as

Wol

lsto

necr

aft o

bser

ves

in M

aria

, w

ere

wor

ked

too

hard

at

'sev

ere

man

ual l

abou

r' to

hav

e m

uch

time

or th

ough

t for

suc

h th

ings

. Th

e id

eal

of e

duca

tion,

ope

ning

up

wid

er f

ield

s fo

r th

e ex

erci

se o

f th

e m

ind,

was

par

t of

a b

ourg

eois

age

nda

for

soci

al

impr

ovem

ent

that

wou

ld '

lift'

the

poor

as

wel

l as

wom

en.

Sequ

entia

l pr

egna

ncie

s, e

xhau

stin

g ch

ild c

are

in t

he g

rim

mes

t co

nditi

ons,

th

e do

uble

yok

e of

wag

ed a

nd u

npai

d do

mes

tic

labo

ur,

none

of

thes

e ar

e ci

ted

in A

Vin

dica

tion

as t

he c

ause

of

wom

en's

deg

rada

tion.

Mar

ia i

nclu

des

an h

onor

able

if

gent

eel

atte

mpt

to d

escr

ibe

the

real

ities

of l

ife f

or w

orki

ng c

lass

wom

en.

A Vi

ndic

atio

n is

mor

e cl

ass

boun

d an

d m

ore

obse

ssiv

e; a

brie

f, th

ough

not

uns

ympa

thet

ic p

assa

ge o

n th

e ho

rror

s of

pro

stitu

-tio

n, a

nd a

few

ref

eren

ces

to t

he d

irty

back

stai

rs h

abits

tha

t fe

mal

e se

rvan

ts p

ass

on to

lad

ies

is th

e se

lect

ive

and

sexu

aliz

ed

atte

ntio

n th

at w

orki

ng c

lass

wom

en g

et in

A' V

indi

catio

n.

Mos

t of

Wol

lsto

necr

aft's

diff

icul

ties

are

with

the

obv

ious

ly

bind

ing

pow

er o

f th

e bi

nary

cat

egor

ies

of c

lass

sex

ualit

y. R

athe

r th

an c

halle

nge

them

, sh

e sh

ifts

her

abst

ract

wom

en a

roun

d in

side

them

or

tries

to r

ever

se th

eir

sym

bolis

m. :r:~

~

adu

ltr~

§.§

.i§

.m. 4

gica

)Jy t

rans

for~

d bL

liber

ty~~

nd-e

duca

"""

18.

Ibid

., p.

261

.

\

Wild

Nig

hts

J 49

tion

into

the

mod

est

ratio

nal

wife

. If

wom

en i

n pu

blic

and

in

prom

iscu

ous

gath

erin

gs,

whe

ther

·-sc

hool

room

or

w

orkp

lace

, w

ere

cons

ider

ed

sexu

ally

en

dang

ered

, W

olls

tone

craf

t w

ould

er

otic

ize

the

safe

hom

e an

d th

e al

l-girl

s es

tabl

ishm

ent,

so t

hat

thes

e ha

rem

s an

d no

t th

e ou

tsid

e w

orld

are

the

pla

ces

whe

re

mod

esty

is a

t risk

. It

does

n't w

ork,

but

it's

a go

od tr

y. I

t doe

sn't

wor

k be

caus

e W

olls

tone

craf

t he

rsel

f w

ishe

s to

con

stru

ct c

lass

di

ffer

entia

tion

thro

ugh

exis

ting

sexu

al c

ateg

orie

s. T

he n

egat

ive

effe

cts

of t

he t

ext

fell

on t

he m

iddl

e-cl

ass

wom

en w

hich

it is

so

eage

r to

con

stru

ct a

nd in

stru

ct.

In S

ex,

Polit

ics a

nd S

ociet

y, Th

e re

gula

tion

of se

xual

ity s

ince

180

0,

?fl."""7

Je

ffre

y W

eeks

, su

mm

ariz

ing

and

exte

ndin

g Fo

ucau

lt, r

emin

ds u

s i.M

,,t,.;

-,

that

: ' ..

. th

e se

xual

app

arat

us a

nd t

he n

ucle

ar f

amily

wer

e pr

oduc

ed b

y th

e bo

urge

oisi

e as

an

aspe

ct o

f its

ow

n se

lf-af

firm

a-tio

n, n

ot a

s a

mea

ns o

f co

ntro

lling

the

wor

king

cla

ss:

...

ther

e ar

e cl

ass

sexu

aliti

es (a

nd d

iffer

ent g

ende

r sex

ualit

ies)

not

a s

ingl

e un

iform

se

xual

ity.

Sexu

ality

_j§,_

1,19.!

.~a

gjve

n.,_

thaL

has

. to,

be

cont

rolle

d. I

t is

an fii

sfciiT

ca1

cons

truc

t th

at h

as _

hist

oric

aLco

ndi-

tioiis

'Ofe

xisle

nce:

·;r<J

..

--..

·u

..

..

0 .

• ••••

-1hv

e'ap

"plf

th"e

se co

mm

ents

, we c

an se

e tha

t the

neg

ativ

e gen

der

sexu

ality

Wol

lsto

necr

aft c

onst

ruct

s w

as o

ne o

f sev

eral

com

petin

g ge

nder

sex

ualit

ies

of t

he l

ate

eigh

teen

th c

entu

ry.

Ase

MaE

&~r

et W

alte

rs i

ndic

ates

, co

ntem

pora

ry f

emin

inity

gri

rs W

olls

tone

craf

t

:~~~!ft

-tii{~gfa

ti~~1 t~:~

~:::i~~t

t~Jti~;!

1!;it;;fu

;~~

intra

:cl_

i:\Q

_~en

der

rgJa

tions

, Q

!:_f_

emale

,.asp

iratio

n. B

ut W

alte

rs is

w

rong

in

seei

ng t

his

stru

ggle

as

one

betw

een

fem

inis

m a

nd

fem

inin

ity.

Ther

e is

no f

emin

ism

tha

t ca

n st

and

who

lly o

utsi

de

fem

inin

ity a

s it

is po

sed

in a

giv

en h

isto

rical

mom

ent.

All

fem

inis

ms

give

som

e id

eolo

gica

l ho

stag

e to

fem

inin

ities

and

are

co

nstr

ucte

d th

roug

h th

e ge

nder

sex

ualit

y of

thei

r da

y as

wel

l as

stan

ding

in

oppo

sitio

n to

the

m.

Wol

lsto

necr

aft

saw

her

mid

dle

clas

s, fo

r a fe

w y

ears

at l

east

, as

a po

tent

ially

revo

lutio

nary

forc

e.

The

men

and

wom

en i

n it

wou

ld e

xerc

ise

thei

r un

ders

tand

ings

on

beh

alf

of a

ll m

anki

nd. I

t w

as im

port

ant t

o he

r th

at th

e w

hole

of

thi

s cl

ass

had

acce

ss t

o re

ason

, an

d th

at w

omen

's l

iber

atio

n w

as p

osed

with

in a

fra

mew

ork

that

was

min

imal

ly a

ccep

tabl

e to

po

pula

r pr

ejud

ices

. Th

at i

s w

hy,

perh

aps,

she

fin

ds h

erse

lf

19.

Wee

ks, p

. 10.

.,.

50

,- prom

isin

g th

e re

ader

tha

t th

e fr

eedo

m o

f w

omen

was

the

key

to

, the

ir c

hast

ity.

With

in t

he e

nlig

hten

men

t and

rom

antic

pro

blem

-at

ics,

reas

on w

as a

lway

s th

e re

spon

sibl

e el

dest

son

and

sen

si-

bilit

y -

emot

ion,

im

agin

atio

n, s

ensu

ality

-th

e ir

resp

onsi

ble

rake

, ca

taly

st

of

chan

ge.

Cla

ss

diff

eren

tiatio

n th

roug

h th

e re

defi

nitio

n of

sex

ual m

ores

was

a p

roce

ss s

o de

eply

ent

renc

hed,

in

Wol

lsto

necr

aft's

tim

e, t

hat

the

mor

al p

ositi

ons

arou

nd s

exua

l be

havi

our

seem

ed a

lmos

t unt

ouch

able

. Fe

min

ists

of

her

gene

ra-

tion

did

not

dare

to

chal

leng

e th

em h

ead

on,

alth

ough

Wol

l-st

onec

raft

was

beg

inni

ng to

wor

k ov

er th

is d

ange

rous

terr

ain,

in

her

life

and

in h

er fi

ctio

n at

the

time

of h

er d

eath

,..gh

e...co

..mbi

na-

tion

of e

qual

ti_g

_hts

and

_sel

kabn

egat

ing_

sexu

alit~

in A

Vin

dic;

atio

n ha

snac

rspe

cial

attr

actio

ns f

or f

emin

ists

who

led

ver

y pu

blic

liv

es,a

.na-

foun

a-ifT

errif

ying

·-and

-·tas

ticfil

!Tdi

ffi.Q

JlC

fo.::

:clia

lleng

e to

o m

any

prej

uciic

es_a

t onc

e. A

s a

livea

ble

form

ula

for

inde

pend

-en

t fem

ales

uoje

ctiv

ity th

ough

, it n

ever

had

muc

h go

ing

for

it -

not

beca

use

an

imm

anen

t an

d ir

repr

essi

ble

sexu

ality

br

oke

thro

ugh

leve

ls o

f fe

mal

e se

lf-de

nial

, but

rat

her

beca

use

the

anti-

erot

ic e

thic

its

elf

fore

grou

nded

and

con

stru

cted

a s

exua

lized

su

bjec

t. A_

s lo

ng a

s th

e do

uble

sta

ndar

d su

rviv

es g

ende

r se

xual

ities

w

ill b

e to

rn b

y th

ese

cont

radi

ctio

ns. W

hen

Wol

lsto

necr

aft's

idea

s fo

r m

ixed

edu

catio

n an

d w

ider

pub

lic p

artic

ipat

ion

for

wom

en

bega

n to

be

put i

nto

prac

tice,

wom

en s

tart

ed to

que

ry a

nd r

esis

t th

e ge

nder

ideo

logi

es in

whi

ch t

hey

had

been

rai

sed.

With

som

e he

lp f

rom

a p

opul

ariz

ed p

sych

oana

lytic

the

ory,

ple

asur

e an

d se

xual

ity w

ere

wri

tten

into

a r

ewor

ked

vers

ion

of fe

mal

e ro

man

-tic

in

divi

dual

ism

. B

oth

indi

vidu

alis

m a

nd t

hese

new

gen

der

sexu

aliti

es a

re,

quite

pro

perl

y, h

eavi

ly c

onte

sted

are

as w

ithin

fe

min

ism

. W

olls

tone

craf

t's p

roje

ct,

with

its

con

trad

icto

ry i

mpl

i-ca

tions

, su

gges

ts s

ome

of th

e pr

oble

ms

invo

lved

in th

e m

oral

iza-

tion

of s

exua

lity

on b

ehal

f of

any

pol

itica

l pr

ogra

mm

e, e

ven

a fe

min

ist o

ne.

Fem

inis

m a

nd C

ompu

lsor

y H

eter

osex

ualit

y: A

drie

nne

Ric

h

Bet

wee

n th

e tw

o te

xts

I ha

ve c

hose

n to

dis

cuss

lie

nea

rly

two

cent

urie

s in

whi

ch s

ucce

ssiv

e fe

min

ism

s ha

ve e

ngag

ed w

ith

reca

lcitr

ant

issu

es o

f w

omen

's s

exua

lity.

Yet

whi

le t

he s

peci

fic

issu

es h

ave

chan

ged,

man

y of

the

ter

ms

in w

hich

the

y ar

e

Wild

Nig

hts

51

deba

ted

wou

ld b

e fa

mili

ar t

o M

ary

Wol

lsto

necr

aft.

In t

he 1

980s

th

e in

depe

nden

t se

xual

ity t

hat

seem

s m

ost

thre

aten

ing

to t

he

dom

inan

t cu

lture

as

fact

and

sym

bol

of w

omen

's e

scap

e fr

om

patr

iarc

hal

cont

rol

is le

sbia

nism

. Le

sbia

n fe

min

ists

, in

th

e 1

vari

ous

polit

ical

ten

denc

ies

in t

he w

omen

's m

ovem

ent

have

for

m

any

year

s no

w b

een

insi

stin

g th

at t

he c

ultu

ral

cons

trai

nts

on

thei

r sex

ual e

xpre

ssio

n ar

e ce

ntra

l to

wom

en's

sub

ordi

natio

n as

a

<fY' J

who

les}

~..

_b

,a~

~:'

~~

~~

!2..

,~ .• }J

..9.~,:.

12 ...

~,J

tl ~

) e

;) \i,? ¥'

f5'.ml

1:2!~(

.,.but_

. i_ts_

=~¥:i

~!~~

~!i.?

.~.)!~

.,~--.

prod

1:\~

:~-~

~ny

pai~_

f_ul

1£ r)

~, °

'V'

nece

ssar

y di

sagr

eem

ent~

! _n

one

mote·

-~·ifu

_ .!

~an

.-f.~

t:_pl

~~::·

of·-

\<-

les&

icin

is~:~

a-s

:t:.:f

om~~

:C}!

~[~g

:::·~

_illi

i~_:

Jffil

J~-~

!.~~R

J~ct

ice:

f~,

·Kai

ienn

e R

icn,

the

Am

eric

an p

oet

and

fem

inis

t tfi

eoris

t ha

s de

velo

ped

a ra

nge

of a

rgum

ents

abo

ut t

he m

eani

ng o

f fe

mal

e se

xual

ity i

n ou

r cu

lture

. H

er p

ositi

on o

n th

e se

xual

pol

itics

of

fem

inis

m is

pow

erfu

lly s

tate

d in

an

artic

le f

irst

publ

ishe

d in

the

fe

min

ist

jour

nal

Sign

s in

the

sum

mer

of

19180

, an

d w

idel

y av

ail-

h. J.

<1-'_..,

-ab

le s

oon

afte

rwar

ds i

n pa

mph

let

form

. C

ompu

lsor

y H

etero

-14-

' <,-""

'",-

. C

•·\

• se

xual

ity a

n~!.@

....E

xist

ence

.'....

chal

leng

es_t

he.n

orm

ativ

.e.--

hete

r.o-

"..J

_ a

ndJe

pres

siy_

e.Ji

bera

l to

lera

n_se

_of.

9-J

arge

_sec

tion

"'12U

he_~

~gm~

nLs,,J

11_.o

y_e.m

ent,,~

<!-rg

11iD

.g,_J

b.c.1,

i~~:~u

~s..~

.Pl3-!

lC.~-

-~~-

-~he

vJ

rtuJU

'Y1<

1. .. !:=

e.ntrJ

;11i

ty"o

L.hi

storic

al".an

d.,co

nte:r

npq_

nnyJ

,12_t

i:r.~

--of

~

i2-n

,.~~l?

}=!Il

gn~"

e_)s,

. tbr_

. R~~

~)il!

t f 9L

}l. J~

ll)jl)

i~L

PR!i t

is_s.

Like

~~

'" ,hl

->

Wol

lsto

necr

aft,

if a

trifle

mor

e te

ntat

ivel

y, R

ich

also

pos

es a

IA

.

· ref

orm

ed l

ibid

in~

ec~

y __ fo

r, ~~

<?-I

P~_.

2-~t

ec.o

:ngi

_t~f

or

\,<-1 ~

~

t~h

..~

aff

g_

p_

oL

~.~

~en

. It

!s t

he c

omm

~n e

ler_n

ent i

n (L

t b

~

thei

r th

inki

ng a

bout

wom

ens

sexu

ality

tha

t I

wJS

h bn

efly

to

w0 \/

kY

exam

ine

in t

his

last

sec

tion.

.

· r:::.

Th

e fo

regr

ound

ing

of s

exua

lity

as th

e so

urce

of w

omen

's s

ub-

ordi

natio

n is

the

ele

men

t th

at m

ost

obvi

ousl

y lin

ks W

olls

tone

-cr

aft's

ana

lysi

s w

ith r

adic

al a

nd r

evol

utio

nary

fem

inis

m i

n th

e di

stin

ct b

ut l

inke

d te

nden

cies

tha

t ha

ve d

evel

oped

in

Brit

ain,

f J\

c..JI

Fran

ce a

nd th

e_ l!

nite

d St

ates

ove

r th

e las

~ fo

u~t~

en y

ears~

. Th~

se.

Cf ~\

-)'\""

stra

nds

in f

emm

1sm

hav

e ta

ken

the

le_ad

m_p

J1yi

legm

g...s

exua

hty

rt>1

as t

he c

entr

al fa

ct a

nd u

nive

rsal

sym

bol 2

£~.9.

.!!l,g

D..'..

ILQp

px.es

sion.

Rad

icar

fem

inTs

m--

naso

tiilf

"its

-fl=

i'eor

y-an

d rh

etor

ic a

roun

d th

e id

eolo

gica

l an

d ac

tual

vio

lenc

e do

ne t

o w

omen

's b

odie

s, w

hile

lib

eral

and

soc

ialis

t fe

min

ism

has

bee

n ra

ther

ner

vous

of

the

sexu

al,

wor

king

ins

tead

to

defi

ne t

he s

peci

fic f

orm

s ta

ken

by

wom

en's

sub

ordi

natio

n in

dif

fere

nt c

lass

, cu

ltura

l an

d ra

cial

gr

oups

, at d

iscr

ete

hist

oric

al m

omen

'ts. T

hese

pro

ject

s an

d st

rate

-gi

es f

requ

ently

ove

rlap,

but

it i

s ro

ughl

y fa

ir to

s~y

tha

t ra

dica

l

52

;·-fe

min

ism

em

phas

ises

the

ide

ntity

of

gend

er o

ppre

ssio

n ac

ross

·.,

}:lis

tory

and

cul

ture

. Rev

olut

iona

ry fe

min

ism

pus

hes

this

ana

lysi

s fa

rthe

r, po

sing

a m

onol

ithic

pat

riar

chal

tyr

anny

, w

ith s

exua

lity

· ,,

. as

its w

eapo

rfo

Bot

h te

nden

cies

hav

e lo

cate

d th

e l:!

1ive

rsal

tru

th\

~~\,\

['/)

of g

ende

r op

pres

sion

in a

sad

istic

aoo

.-ins

afia

61em

ale

sexu

ality

, I

\\\\ ~\.rtv

J "~5

_!11

s..:

~E.~

~~::

:l·:

~-~u

~~~~

~!1<

lpu~

sn:-

·A:i

1y_@

eas~

t 1'

,/\

:,J'-\

0 ~~

~~!:_

!ow~~

.:-~. w

no·t::J

sfJ>~

:!,~-~-

~&f~r

,~s}~'

.1.~~~

~!.~.:

~;!-':1

:e I

>:'

vJ-1

nece

ssan

ly·ta

mte

a;·'a

t·tne

ext

rem

e en

d of

fnr

s po

s1tio

n, w

omen

! ~~

y-i '>

~('

) _'

Y~~

~e1.

!.'~a

~s.2

ns~_

d~!~

fi:5

.~l!

a.~9

f~to

~~-:

::::~

1~~r

f~~!

.\_a

· '{I

\ /o

~{i1 •

fasc

ist

at

he~r

t~ W

hile

W

olls

tone

cr·a

ft ac

know

ledg

ed

that

a

(r)Y

~ de

prav

ed-s

exua

l"'Jj

leas

ure

for

both

men

and

WO

men

was

the

ef

fect

of

uneq

ual

pow

er r

elat

ions

bet

wee

n th

em,

radi

cal

fem

in-

ism

und

erlin

es t

he u

nple

asur

e of

the

se r

elat

ions

for

wom

en.

Whe

re w

omen

hav

e no

cho

ice

over

the

aim

and

obj

ect

of, t

heir

se

xual

ity,

hete

rose

xual

ity,

in t

he w

ords

of

Adr

ienn

e Ri

ch,

is

'com

puls

ory'

-an

ins

titut

ion

mor

e co

mpr

ehen

sive

and

sin

iste

r th

ar t

he d

iffe

rent

rel

atio

ns a

nd p

ract

ices

it

cons

truc

ts.

Wor

se,

com

puls

ory

hete

rose

xual

ity i

s pa

rt o

f a

chai

n of

gen

der

-sp

ecifi

c to

rtur

es,

both

m

edic

al

and

conj

ugal

: hy

ster

ecto

my,

cl

itero

dect

omy,

bat

teri

ng,

rape

and

impr

ison

men

t are

all

elab

or-

atio

ns o

f th

e sa

dist

ic

act

of p

enet

ratio

n its

elf,

pene

trat

ion

the

soci

ally

val

oriz

ed s

ymbo

l of

vio

lenc

e ag

ains

t w

omen

. M

en u

se

thes

e to

rmen

ts to

sho

re u

p th

eir o

wn

subj

ectiv

ity. T

heir

ple

asur

e in

the

m i

s a

conf

irm

atio

n of

mal

e po

wer

. Po

rnog

raph

y, i

n th

is

anal

ysis

, is

em

blem

atic

of

all

mal

e se

xual

ity,

the

viol

ent f

anta

sy

behi

nd th

e te

nder

est a

ct o

f int

erco

urse

. Ri

ch d

efin

es h

eter

osex

ualit

y as

an

inst

itutio

n 'fo

rcib

ly a

nd

subl

imin

ally

im

pose

d on

wom

en'

who

hav

e 'e

very

whe

re .

..

resi

sted

it.'

Alth

ough

she

adm

its th

at th

ere

are

'qua

litat

ive

diff

er-

ence

s of

exp

erie

nce'

with

in h

eter

osex

ualit

y, t

hese

dif

fere

nces

ca

nnot

alte

r th

e co

rrup

t na

ture

of

the

inst

itutio

n, s

ince

a g

ood

part

ner

is ra

ther

like

a g

ood

mas

ter

in s

lave

ry,

a m

atte

r of

luc

k no

t ch

oice

. W

hile

Wol

lsto

necr

aft

belie

ved,

cy

nica

lly,

that

all

wom

en t

ook

plea

sure

in

thei

r sl

aver

y,

Ric

h ba

cks

off

from

ad

mitt

ing

that

co

erci

on,

how

ever

su

blim

inal

, ca

n pr

oduc

e pl

easu

re.

Bin

ary

cate

gorie

s,

hist

oric

ally

di

ffer

entia

ted,

ar

e op

erat

ing

here

. Ba

d w

omen

in

1792

exp

erie

nced

bad

ple

asur

e;

good

wom

en i

n 19

80 e

xper

ienc

e no

ple

asur

e. I

n bo

th c

ases

the

3f

_fec

t is

puni

tive.

(

Ric

h's

abst

ract

wom

en -

they

are

no

near

er to

rea

l, hi

stor

ical

\

wom

en t

han

the

incr

edib

ly l

asci

viou

s la

dies

of

A Vi

ndic

atio

n -

'-~

/'

._)

Wild

Nig

hts.

53

are

neith

er m

asoc

hist

s no

r ny

mph

oman

iacs

, th

ey a

re s

impl

y_

wom

en w

hose

nat

ural

sex

ualit

y ha

s be

en a

rtific

ially

div

erte

d,\

from

the

ir r

eal

obje

ct,

othe

r w

omen

. W

omen

's l

ong

.str

uggl

e )

agai

nst h

eter

osex

ualit

y to

ok, a

ccor

ding

to R

ich,

.a w

ide

vari

ety

of

form

s al

ong

wha

t sh

e ca

lls t

he 'l

esbi

an c

ontin

uum

', as

dis

tinc

t_

from

'les

bian

exi

sten

ce' -

the

natu

ral

sexu

ality

of

wom

en.

Rich

ha

s sh

ifte

d th

e te

rms

in t

he n

atur

e/cu

lture

deb

ate

with

out r

eally

al

teri

ng t

he p

arad

igm

of

wom

en's

sex

ualit

y. I

n he

r sc

enar

io ·1

_ fe

mal

e he

tero

sexu

ality

is s

ocia

lly c

onst

ruct

ed a

nd f

emal

e ho

mo-

\ ,·("

\ 7

sexu

alit~

is

natu

ra~.

A1

in. W

olls

tone

craf

t, w

hat

is b

ad g

oes .

..QP

,,i,,.,

lcifl-

-"\ t..

.?

the

outs

ide,

wha

t m

b..er.

es 1

s ne

utra

l or

goo

d. I

n R

ich'

s fo

rmul

a,

<>-(.

-1t-

---w

omen

's lib

idin

al d

rive

is

mad

e ce

ntra

l, tr

ansh

isto

rica

l an

d G

' im

man

ent w

here

dom

inan

t sex

ual i

deol

ogy

had

cons

truc

ted

it as

ac

c1ae

ntal

an

d/o!

__P.

atl19

lQgi

_cal.

Po

Titic

al le

sbia

nism

be

com

es

-mor

e-t1

fana

-·st

rate

gic

posi

tion-

-for

fem

inis

m,

it is

a r

etur

n to

na

ture

. In

this

new

inte

rpre

tatio

n of

sex

ualit

y a

fairl

y cr

ude

libid

-in

al e

cono

my

is as

sert

ed:

Wom

an id

entif

icat

ion

is a

sour

ce o

f ene

rgy,

a p

oten

tial s

prin

ghea

d of

fe

mal

e po

wer

, vio

lent

ly c

urta

iled

and

was

ted

unde

r th

e in

stitu

tion

of

hete

rose

xual

ity.

The

deni

al o

f re

ality

an

d vi

sibi

lity

to

wom

en's

pa

ssio

n fo

r w

omen

, wom

en's

cho

ice

of w

omen

as

allie

s, lif

e co

mpa

n-io

ns,

and

com

mun

ity;

the

forc

ing

of s

uch

rela

tions

hips

int

o di

s-si

mul

atio

n, t

heir

dis

inte

grat

ion

unde

r in

tens

e pr

essu

re,

have

mea

nt

an i

ncal

cula

ble

loss

to

the

pow

er o

f al

l w

omen

to

chan

ge t

lze s

ocia

l re

latio

ns o

f tlze

sex

es,

to l

iber

ate

ours

elve

s an

d ea

ch o

ther

. Th

e lie

of

com

puls

ory

fem

ale

hete

rose

xual

ity t

oday

aff

licts

not

jus

t fe

min

ist

scho

lars

hip,

but

eve

ry p

rofe

ssio

n, e

very

refe

renc

e w

ork,

eve

ry c

urric

-ul

um,

ever

y or

gani

zing

atte

mpt

, ev

ery

rela

tions

hip

or c

onve

rsat

ion

over

whi

ch i

t ho

vers

. It

crea

tes,

spe

cific

ally

, a

prof

ound

fal

sene

ss,

hypo

cris

y an

d hy

ster

ia in

the

het

eros

exua

l dia

logu

e, f

or e

very

het

er-

osex

ual

rela

tions

hip

is liv

ed i

n th

e qu

easy

str

obel

ight

of

that

lie

. H

owev

er w

e ch

oos.e

to id

entif

y ou

rsel

ves,

how

ever

we

find

our

selv

es

labe

lled,

it f

licke

rs a

cros

s an

d di

stor

ts o

ur li

ves.

20

The

satu

ratin

g po

wer

of

this

soc

ially

enf

orce

d -

as o

ppos

ed t

o na

tura

lly li

ved

-se

xual

ity r

epre

sses

, in

Ric

h's

view

, aI

I cr

eativ

e · e

xpre

ssio

n an

d al

l ra

dica

l an

d re

volu

tiona

ry p

roce

ss.

It is

eer

ily ''\

lik

e W

olls

tone

craf

t's t

otal

izin

g vi

ew o

f se

xual

ity.

Bot

h Ri

ch a

nd

i W

ol

tone

craf

t be

lieve

tha

t he

tero

exu

ality

as

it is

andn

asbe

en

20.

Rich

, p. 6

57.

54

~~

lll@

j_s_

a~g

icaL

clif

ilo

rtio

0-.

ol_

fue_

po

s~~

~~

of

fem

al~J

Jali

cy~A

t one

leve

l A V

indi

catio

n is

high

ly p

resc

ript

ive:

it

asks

wom

en, a

t the

ver

y le

ast,

to r

esis

t the

app

eal o

f a p

leas

ure

that

will

put

the

m ~

t th

e se

xual

and

em

otio

nal

mer

cy o

f m

en.

Wol

lsto

necr

aft

stop

ped

shor

t of

de

fini

ng a

n in

nate

for

m o

f fe

mal

e se

xual

ity -

she

unde

rsto

od a

fter

her

enco

unte

r w

ith

Emile

th

at

argu

ing

diff

eren

ce

from

na

ture

w

as

ultim

atel

y re

actio

nary

. Ri

ch,

on t

he o

ther

han

d, h

as n

o qu

alm

s ab

out

cons

truc

ting

fem

ale

·sexu

ality

as

natu

rally

diff

eren

t. Sh

e us

es h

er

anal

ysis

, in

the

pas

sage

cite

d ab

ove,

to

inte

rpre

t con

flict

s w

ithin

fe

min

ism

tod

ay.

Thg

resg

ltjs

th

at.

_t_

hese

__

_c~

es,

on

who

se w

orki

ng t

hr~

h~

min

isll.l

,~

e

cc5

Ilap

secf

mto

f~~

~~

g_

n_

q[:

tg:~

~~

~~

§1

.§-:

:~al

-if

yota

T/w

oine

n. A

ny f

ailu

re

of e

nerg

y or

str

ateg

y ca

n ·b

e re

ciuc

ecrt

oThe

-fnr

stra

tion

and

anxi

ety

asso

ciat

ed w

ith a

den

ied

or f

eare

d se

xual

ity.

Diff

icul

ties

betw

een

wom

en a

re n

o_ l

onge

r ab

out

age,

cla

ss,

race

or

cultu

re.

All

the

legi

timat

e pr

oble

ms

· inh

eren

t to

an e

mer

gent

pol

itics

are

whi

ttled

dow

n to

a r

epre

ssed

bu

t su

prac

ultu

ral

sexu

ality

. In

Co

mpu

lsory

Het

eros

exua

lity

the

· sol

utio

n fo

r a

bette

r po

litic

s is

cont

aine

d in

the

app

eal f

rom

bad

cu

lture

bac

k to

goo

d na

ture

. Th

e th

eme

of

Ric

h's

revi

sion

of

fe

mal

e se

xual

ity

is th

e po

ssib

le c

onst

ruct

ion

of a

spe

cific

ally

fem

inist

hum

anis

m.

Ben

ign

' nat

ure

is fe

mal

e -

affe

ctio

nate

and

sen

sual

as

wel

l as

cre

ativ

e,

revo

lutio

nary

an

d tr

ansc

ende

nt.

In

its

polit

ical

in

flect

ion

it l-o

ppos

es a

n in

nate

ly v

icio

us m

ale

natu

re w

hose

asc

ende

ncy

has

. pr

oduc

ed t

he b

ad d

ream

of

phal

locr

atic

cul

ture

. A

ccor

ding

to

Ric

h, '

...

hete

rose

xual

ity a

s an

ins

titut

ion

has

been

org

aniz

ed

and

mai

ntai

ned

thro

ugh

the

fein

ale

wag

e sc

ale,

the

enf

orce

men

t of

mid

dle-

clas

s w

omen

's l

eisu

re,

the

glam

oriz

atio

n of

so-

calle

d se

xual

libe

ratio

n, t

he w

ithho

ldin

g of

edu

catio

n fr

om w

omen

, th

e im

age

of "

high

art

", an

d po

pula

r cul

ture

, the

mys

tific

atio

n of

the

"per

sona

l" s

pher

e an

d m

uch

else

.'21 T

hese

rat

her h

eter

ogen

eous

, cl

ass-

spec

ific

and

eth

noce

ntri

c de

vice

s su

ppor

t he

tero

sexu

ality

ra

ther

tha

n ca

pita

lism

or

patr

iarc

hal

rela

tions

. Ta

ke a

way

the

se

and

othe

r cu

ltura

l su

ppor

ts a

nd h

eter

osex

ualit

y w

ould

pre

-su

mab

ly w

ither

aw

ay. D

estr

oy h

eter

osex

ist c

ultu

re a

t any

his

tor-

ical

mom

ent

and

lesb

ian/

fem

inis

m w

ould

em

erge

tri

umph

ant

21.

Rich

, p. 6

59.

Wild

Nig

hts

55

from

_ i~s

. ~i?h

es.

Rich

'.s s

im~l

e be

lief i

n th

e al

l-em

b~ac

ing

polit

ical

po

ss1~

1htJe

s of

les

bian

exi

sten

ce,

her

reje

ctio

n of

the

pol

itica

l ·

mte

gnty

of

hete

rose

xual

fem

inis

m c

onst

itute

s a

deni

al b

oth

of

the

spe~

ifici

ty a

nd_

v~rie

ty o

f fe

mal

e se

xual

ity a

nd t

he s

peci

ficity

: ·

and

vari

ety

of fe

min

ism

. ·

The

iden

tific

atio

n of

the

sou

rces

of

soci

al g

ood

or e

vil

in t

he

s_ex

u~I

driv

e of

eith

er s

ex,

or in

any

soc

ially

spe

cific

sex

ual p

rac-

. hc

e 1~

a ':

'ay

of f

orec

l?si

ng o

ur s

till_

im~e

rfec

t un

?ers

tand

ing

of.

· .,;_

">

,Y..'~'~

th

e h1

sto~1

es o

f_ se

xual

ity.

The

mor

ah,i:

atJo

n of

des

n:e.

..th

aJ~

-Y-"-

· ·<.

>•y?'\

.f'--

ably

!~

~w

:' fr

om s

uch

an a

naly

sis

coll~

des ~

tho

se d

o~

t •.

,,ru-"t

c'.l~,::,•·

-P

~hc

es f

fiat

cons

truc

t hu

man

sex

uail1

ty t

firo

ugnc

aceg

orie

s of

.

tli •

.

-~~~

-~~a

ce ~

1:,~

gena

::~.~

~<:!_

~-~~

-ci!Y

J~e

an

_§

__

!_tB

_~

ty

, )

~u

cte

a 5

y aT

emm

1st r

evol

utio

n w

ill b

e a

new

soc

ial r

elat

ion

Nvv

\

with--,newcct~""j'"--

' -=

-----

---.--

_..._

_-:--

..----

-----...

. I

\ \[

>.(

) .,·

~

?-ct

rcr1

0n

s. a

na·c

ons..

tr.ai

nts. T

~-~

--

;-_,~:

,

· n~

Q.lJ.

.~--s

~X;::

!?ht

y., __ J

.1.2.~ ..

. co

nst

r~_

jbJ.

Q);

!gh

.Jh

e-~

e of

_Qi~

e.0c>

', _,v

-~ J

~-a~

~or

fen.:

~::...

.~s __

a tr

a~~~

~!:1

-~en

t~.!1

-ta~

l_.b

ourg

eois

,5

d·

md1y

1_c!_

g~_~

.:>-1P

,. Jt.

pose

s-a'

=suo

)ect

-wno

-=--

can-

·sfa

nd-o

utsi

oeth

e'

;_ c;.

. '-\ \

1:,

-~.Q

ci<:

L-.E

erha

ps,c

m1S

itler

ingi

tspo

litic

araf

ftic

u1H

esin

fhe'

past

·. Y '.

'-0 (.. .t

' -f

~.

. h

Id

\ '

.\\'(

X. , e

mm

ism

s o

u re

sist

app

ropr

iatin

g su

ch a

sub

ject

, or

at

leq-st

u

s,ov

'"'

r.~

f~ h

ang

our

hope

s fo

r se

xual

ple

asur

e ro

und

its n

eck

./

~--.

---------

The

wal

l~ a

nd d

oors

of

the

wom

en's

toi

lets

crt

~n

iver

sity

of

Suss

ex ~

ibra

ry w

ere,

and

~re

, co

vere

d w

ith w

omen

's w

ritin

g.

From

thi

s lo

wes

t se

at o

f hi

gh l

earn

ing

a po

lylo

gic

test

amen

t to

w

omen

's e

ntry

into

dis

cour

se c

an b

e re

ad in

the

rou

nd.

Ther

e is

in

evita

bly,

a e

upho

ric

tem

ptat

ion

to r

ead

too

muc

h ou

t of

the

s~

expr

essi

ve i

nscr

iptio

ns.

For

if yo

ung

wom

en c

an s

hit

and

wri

te,

not

for

so1!

1e p

atria

r~ha

l _pe

dant

,, bu

~ fo

r ea

ch o

ther

's e

yes

only

, w

hat

vest

iges

of

Vic

tona

n <;

:ons

tram

ts re

mai

n? I

t is

true,

of

co

ur~e

, t~

at t

he v

ast

maj

ority

of

cont

ribu

tors

to

this

par

ticul

ar

pubh

c/pn

vate

deb

ate

are

youn

g, w

hite

and

mid

dle-

clas

s, b

ut n

ot

all w

omen

's J

oos

so d

ecor

ated

are

qui

te s

o cl

ass

and

race

bou

nd.

In t

he s

mal

lest

roo

ms

of t

his

acad

emy

polit

ics

and

inte

llect

ual

. m~t

ters

are

inf

orm

ally

deb

ated

, bu

t se

x_ a

s th

e pr

efer

red

topi

c w

ms

hand

s do

wn.

·· ·

'H

ow d

o I

get

~n o

rgas

m?'

pro

mpt

ed a

boo

th-f

ull

of r

eplie

s an

d co

mm

~nta

ry _

m th

e ea

rly

mid

-sev

entie

s, s

how

ing

off

the

rang

e an

d m

genw

ty o

f w

omen

's s

exua

l pr

actic

es a

nd t

heor

ies.

A

dvic

e in

clud

ed d

etai

led

inst

ruct

ions

to

be r

elay

ed t

o a

mal

e pa

rtne

r ,as

wel

l as

the

suc

cinc

t, la

coni

c re

com

men

datio

n to

'Tr

y W

omen

. Th

ere

was

an

addr

ess

for

supp

liers

of

vibr

ator

s an

d an

\'--

·

56

illus

tratio

n, d

efin

itely

not

ero

tic,

to h

elp

one.

find

the

elus

ive

clito

ris.

In t

he w

ide

varie

ty o

f re

spon

ses

one

was

not

icea

bly

abse

nt

-no

co

ntri

buto

r co

ntes

ted

the

impo

rtan

ce

of

the

ques

tion.

No

one

quer

ied

the

cent

ralit

y of

org

asm

for

wom

en's

se

xual

pra

ctic

e or

the

im

port

ance

of

sexu

al p

leas

ure

itsel

f. N

o an

achr

onis

tic

blue

stoc

king

su

gges

ted

that

iri

telle

ctua

l an

d se

nsua

l pu

rsui

ts w

ere

inco

mpa

tible

. N

o de

vout

Chr

istia

n w

as

mov

ed to

tell

her s

iste

rs to

wai

t unt

il m

arria

ge. O

nly

now

, fro

m a

di

ffer

ent

time

and

plac

e in

the

fem

inis

t de

bate

ove

r se

xual

ity

does

th

at

appa

rent

ly

unan

imou

s ag

reem

ent

amon

g yo

ung

educ

ated

wom

en th

at s

exua

l ple

asur

e, h

owev

er a

chie

ved,

was

an

unpr

oble

mat

ic d

esire

see

m c

urio

us.

Abo

ut th

e m

eans

of

arriv

ing

at p

leas

ure

ther

e w

as p

lent

y of

dis

agre

emen

t; if

a~th

ing

that

cu

bicl

e w

as a

tel

ling

rem

inde

r th

at th

ere

has

neve

r be

en a

sin

gle

-fem

iniri

itfan

'dtna

rwith

in-t~

_11_

1i_~

is~·~

s_ex

u,c1

lity-

a:nd

-~h~

~ec1

n:i.n

g ~o

fple

asur

e··h

a-ve

·mos

ffre

quen

tly b

een

the

site

of

ange

r, -~

~~tra

-··d

ictio

h an

ucon

Tus1

on,

too __

9!te

h _ ill

~min

atiif

Kcl

ass,

cttl

tgrn

Land

ni.-

c:·1iff

d1v1

sion-

behv

e·en

-·wom

en.

Now

, w

hen

fem

ale

sexu

ality

is

indi

sptif

ably

-cen

tre-s

tage

in f

emin

ist

deba

tes

~utp

l~~?

-~!-~

J? .. ~

?,<? • ..

· ra

rely

it~

SuQ

ject_

imd

eros

ram

pant

is m

ore

likel

y to

con

jure

up

a ·

sfiu

ffm

ovie

than

mul

tiple

org

asm

, tha

t loo

wal

l rem

ains

with

me

as a

n im

port

ant

even

t in

the

his

tory

of

fem

inis

m,

a m

omen

t w

hose

app

eara

nce

and

sign

ifica

nce

we

mus

t wor

k to

und

erst

and.

3.

The

Fem

inis

t Pol

itics

of

Lite

rary

The

ory

Abo

ut t

en y

ears

ago

, du

ring

the

hig

h po

int

of f

emin

ist

activ

ism

in

Brit

ain

you

coul

d fin

d a

new

-min

ted

piec

e of

fol

k w

isdo

m

insc

ribe

d on

the

wal

ls o

f w

omen

's J

oos

thro

ugho

ut t

he c

ount

ry,

and

quot

ed e

ndle

ssly

in

the

liter

atur

e of

the

mov

emen

t: 'A

W

oman

With

out

a M

an i

s Li

ke a

Fis

h W

ithou

t a

Bicy

cle.

' As

a de

fian

t slo

gan

of in

depe

nden

ce a

nd a

uton

omy

it ha

s al

way

s irr

i-ta

ted

me,

not

onl

y fo

r its

'sep

arat

ist'

impl

icat

ions

or

its d

istu

rb-

ing,

Dal

i-es

que

juxt

apos

ition

of

selv

es a

nd th

ings

but

also

for

its

com

plac

ent

esse

ntia

lism

and

the

fal

se

(in-)

cong

ruiti

es o

f its

m

etap

hor.

Wom

en a

ren'

t lik

e fis

h,

supp

lied

with

a

natu

ral

elem

ent a

nd e

quip

ped

for

easy

pas

sage

thr

ough

it.

The

'revo

lu-

tiona

ry'

choi

ce f

or t

hem

will

nev

er b

e fo

r a

stre

amlin

ed n

ew

iden

tity

in h

arm

ony

with

an

envi

ronm

ent

in w

hich

rus

t-pr

one,

m

ale-

desi

gned

tr

ansp

ort

tech

nolo

gy

is re

dund

ant.

At

man

y po

ints

in t

he I

nstit

ute

of C

onte

mpo

rary

Art

s w

eeke

nd 'C

ross

ing

the

Cha

nnel

'1 w

rite

rs a

nd c

ritic

s pr

oudl

y m

aint

aine

d th

e us

eles

s-ne

ss o

f 'th

eory

' fo

r th

eir

prac

tices

, an

.d

as

seve

ral

of t

hem

di

savo

wed

bot

h th

e pr

esen

t an

d hi

stor

ical

con

nect

ion

betw

een

liter

atur

e an

d po

litic

s I f

ound

my

leas

t fav

orite

fem

inis

t epi

gram

sw

imm

ing

into

vie

w s

uita

bly

reva

mpe

d fo

r th

e oc

casi

on -

' A c

ritic

with

out

a th

eory

of

repr

esen

tatio

n is

like

...

a w

rite

r w

ithou

t a p

oliti

cs is

like

...

. ' Th

e ae

sthe

tic,

as e

ither

art

pra

ctic

e or

as

com

men

tary

was

1.

A w

eeke

nd c

onfe

renc

e in

Dec

embe

r 198

4 in

whi

ch F

renc

h an

d En

glish

writ

ers

and

criti

cs c

onsi

dere

d th

e us

es o

f crit

ical

theo

ry.

57