Powers of Desire: The Politics of Sexuality

by Ann Snitow (Editor), Christine Stansell (Editor), Sharon Thompson (Editor)

This provocative anthology brings together a diverse group of well-known feminist and gay writers, historians, and activists. They are concerned not only with current sexual issues—abortion, pornography, reproductive and gay rights—but they also raise a host of new issues and questions: How, and in what ways, is sexuality political? Is the struggle for sexual freedom a complement to other struggles for liberation, or will it detract from them? Has the sexual revolution diminished or enriched the lives of women?

Genres: Feminism, Sexuality, Nonfiction, Theory, LGBT, Gender Studies, Queer

489 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1983

Reviews

[stadtfisch · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to read this because i had come across John D'Emilio's essay about capitalism and gay identity, in the footnotes of which he thanks Alan Bérubé, and also Amber Hollibaugh for discussions about marxism – who are both also represented in this anthology adding interesting working class perspective. Considering that, my expectations of what this anthology would contain weren't met, and I found the editors' selection of and introductions to the sections and different essays, prose and poetry quite tedious and strange. They ended up collecting enough interesting pieces to make it an overall worthwhile read but especially the prose and poetry felt like something out of a writing workshop for people who haven't experienced much outside of reading and going to the movies in while growing up in a suburban middle-class setting. Overall I suppose it's an interesting document of some US-american feminist discourses around that time and I don't think I wasted my time reading it, still I don't know if I would necessarily recommend it. I would give two and a half stars if I could but overall the editors annoyed me too much to round it up to three.

[Eve Lyons · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of essays ranging from historical analysis to political commentary. Excellent academic, feminist collection about sex and sexuality.

[Maryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those thick anthologies that you should really read over a few months/years. Really good essays, thoughtful and provocative stuff, but too much to swallow in a short period of time. Also pretty dated: there was a lot of reference to gaps or voids in certain areas of scholarhsip that I think have now been more thoroughly addressed.

[Erin Matson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am filled with gratitude that the Women Against Pornography controversy took place and largely expired before my time in the women’s movement. It sounds bananas and based in fundamentalist religion-level fervor. (I do think about how as a very young woman in the early 2000s at a NOW conference, there was a time I was in an isolated hotel conference room as a woman decompensated behind a microphone while arguing for a stringent anti-pornography resolution and I became, no joke, fearful for our safety. Reading many of these essays makes that moment make more sense to me now.)

Learning more about Women Against Pornography from a range of viewpoints from that era, I see the same core issues as when we feminists now fight about assisted reproduction, sex work, and to an extent, trans inclusion.

There are other essays and topics in this book. For example, Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence by Adrienne Rich never disappoints, and I’m glad to have read it again.

Old women’s studies anthologies are at least as fascinating for what has been left off the page.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Powers of Desire: The Politics of Sexuality (Paperback)
by Ann Snitow (Editor)

[Mike Franco · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful collection of essays ranging from historical analysis to political commentary about sex and sexuality.

[aerialxav]

Capitalism and gay identity essay

[Malcolm · Rating 3 out of 5]

A now classic collection of feminist papers exploring desire in a range of social, historical and athropological contexts. Many are published elsewhere, but it contains Adrienne Rich's essential 'Compusory Heterosexuality and the Lesbian Experience', Kathy Peiss's excellent analysis of working class women's leisure in New York and others. After a quarter of a century it remains a key collection, even if some of its sections have dated.