From
time to time, I will be blogging about books
relating to feminist themes. Some of my general thoughts on feminism and the
issue of violence directed at women are here.
Andrea Dworkin’s Intercourse is
a controversial book. Controversy often goes hand in hand with Dworkin’s work.
A Radical Feminist (The term “Radical Feminist” is so often misunderstood. It
refers to a certain branch of feminism that adheres to a specific ideology.
Whether that ideology is really “radical” or not is, in my opinion, a fair
question and open to debate), Dworkin is admired by some and vilified by others.
It is worth noting that she has been strongly criticized by people who identify
as feminists.
This work lives up to Dworkin’s reputation for
proposing ideas that many people strongly disagree with. I chose to read this
book because I wanted to explore ideas on the edge of intellectual discourse
relating to feminism.
First, I want to clear up some common misconceptions
about this book that folks might find online and elswhere. It has been said by several sources that
Dworkin contends in this book that all heterosexual intercourse constitutes rape.
This is a fallacy; nothing in this book says or implies this. Furthermore, Dworkin
denied publicly that that was her intention here. Second, Dworkin has often
been accused if misandry. Though she makes very controversial statements about
men in general, in my opinion, nothing in this book is really hateful toward
men.
This is a curious and odd book for several reasons.
First, Dworkin’s primary contention is one of the more extreme that has been
proposed by any thinker who draws respect in intellectual circles. Second, the
structure of the book and how the arguments are developed are very unusual.
Dworkin’s primary argument is that heterosexual sex is
pernicious and is extremely damaging to the well-being of women. The author
argues that intercourse is always a vehicle for the oppression, exploitation,
and dehumanization of women. In fact, she seems to contend that intercourse and
men’s desire for it are the primary drivers of the oppression of women. She
makes little distinction regarding whether sex is within or outside of a
monogamous relationship or marriage. She disregards arguments that intercourse
can be a positive part of a respectful or healthy relationship.
She writes about intercourse,
“In it,
female is bottom, stigmatized. Intercourse remains a means or the means of
physiologically making a woman inferior: communicating to her cell by cell her
own inferior status, impressing it on her, burning it into her by shoving it
into her, over and over, pushing and thrusting until she gives up and gives
in—which is called surrender in the male lexicon. In the experience of
intercourse, she loses the capacity for integrity because her body— the basis
of privacy and freedom in the material world for all human beings—is entered
and occupied; the boundaries of her physical body are—neutrally
speaking—violated. What is taken from her in that act is not recoverable, and
she spends her life—wanting, after all, to have something—pretending that
pleasure is in being reduced through intercourse to insignificance.”
Later she contends that it is a male expression of
hatred for women,
“But the
hatred of women is a source of sexual pleasure for men in its own right.
Intercourse appears to be the expression of that contempt in pure form, in the
form of a sexed hierarchy; it requires no passion or heart because it is power
without invention… “
The above are just examples. The author elaborates and
expands on similar arguments for many pages. She explores, society, culture and
history to support her contentions.
What might be more unusual about this book is its style
and structure. Roughly forty percent of this work is literary analysis. Several
works, including books by Leo Tolstoy, Gustave Flaubert, Brahm
Stoker, Isaac Bashevis Singer, James Baldwin and others are explored.
Dworkin does not attempt to use these works to support her contentions. Instead
she analyzes the various texts in terms of how they portray the dehumanizing
and oppressive effects of intercourse. As criticism, this book is insightful
and brings to light many useful and interesting insights contained in the works
that are analyzed. Nevertheless, it
seems odd to me to include this much literary criticism in a work such as this.
Dworkin’s style is almost poetic. In her introduction
to my edition of this book, Ariel Levy notes that she was heavily influenced by
Beat Poets, such as Allen Ginsberg. I think that this comparison is spot on.
The book is also heavily laced with profanity. Dworkin clearly hates sexual
intercourse and she seems to use vulgar terms in order to express her contempt
for the act.
As I suspect most people would, I strongly disagree
with Dworkin’s main conclusions. Like many human actions, intercourse is a complex
subject. Intercourse can be an enormously positive and psychologically healthy
act for both women and men.
With that, I think that Dworkin has struck upon some
truth. Intercourse is all too often used as a vehicle to dominate and oppress.
Obviously, rape falls into this category. Throughout history and into present
times, sex has been used to exploit and oppress women. Examples include
prostitution, domineering partners, mindless objectification, etc. Dworkin’s
arguments do point out how such oppressive trends have worked their way into
various aspects of our mainstream culture and how this dark side to sex has had
a negative impact on society.
Furthermore, while I would not go nearly as far as Dworkin goes, I agree
that some of this tendency towards sexual dominance and sadism has ingrained itself
into our culture and psychology. Unfortunately, in my opinion she has turned
insight into dogma when it comes to the big picture. She seems to be utterly
contemptuous and sees little value in heterosexual intercourse in any context. Thus,
I find the author’s ultimate conclusions untenable.
This book is definitely not for everyone. Its extreme
positions as well as its profane language will be a nonstarter for many. However, to the extent that there is a dark
dimension to intercourse that runs throughout culture and history, this book
can be viewed as a controversial philosophic exploration of valid topics. If
one is interested in literary criticism revolving around this subject, this is
also a useful and even enlightening work. Finally, Dworkin was one of the main architects
of Radical Feminist Theory, and this is one of her major works. Anyone with an interest
in this subject would likely find this book valuable.
I found the book to be fascinating, however much I
disagree with Dworkin’s conclusions. I found her theorizing and prose style absorbing.
With that, this book is only recommended for adventurous readers with interest in
the relevant subjects.
