Penile Imperialism: The Male Sex Right and Women’s Subordination | The Construction of the Sexuality of Male Domination (PDF Chapter 1)
In this chapter, Sheila Jeffreys argues that male sexuality should be understood as a construction from and expression of male dominance. In the writings of sexologists and social scientists, sexuality is seen as either a product of biology, a result of family relationships or, if it is recognised as socially constructed, a product of a number of forces none of which consists of the power relations of male domination. This chapter looks at how sexologists in the twentieth century ordained a correct
form of sexuality that follows a template of male power and women’s powerlessness. It describes how the radical feminist theorists of the 1970s and 1980s radically challenged the scientists and explained male sexual behaviour as an emanation of male domination. It shows how the sexologists of today still promote the idea that sexuality is the product of biology. It ends with an examination of the ways what is called ‘sex therapy’ acts as a conduit to disseminate sexological ideas and train both practitioners and clients to eroticise inequality.
44 pages | 687 KB