This Sex Which is Not One

by Luce Irigaray (Author), Catherine Porter (Translator), Carolyn Burke (Translator), Catherine Porter (Translator), Luce Irigaray (Author), Carolyn Burke (Translator), Luce Irigaray (Author)

New
Paperback
1985
$31.91

In This Sex Which Is Not One, Luce Irigaray elaborates on some of the major themes of Speculum of the Other Woman, her landmark work on the status of woman in Western philosophical discourse and in psychoanalytic theory, In eleven acute and widely ranging essays, Irigaray reconsiders the question of female sexuality in a variety of contexts that are relevant to current discussion of feminist theory and practice.
Among the topics she treats are the implications of the thought of Freud and Lacan for understanding womanhood and articulating a feminine discourse; classic views on the significance of the difference between male and female sex organs; and the experience of erotic pleasure in men and in women. She also takes up explicitly the question of economic exploitation of women; in an astute reading of Marx she shows that the subjection of woman has been institutionalized by her reduction to an object of economic exchange. Throughout Irigaray seeks to dispute and displace male-centered structures of language and thought through a challenging writing practice that takes a first step toward a woman's discourse, a discourse that would put an end to Western culture's enduring phallocentrism.
Making more direct and accessible the subversive challenge of Speculum of the Other Woman, this volume-skillfully translated by Catherine Porter (with Carolyn Burke)-will be essential reading for anyone seriously concerned with contemporary feminist issues.

Synopsis

In This Sex Which Is Not One, Luce Irigaray elaborates on some of the major themes of Speculum of the Other Woman, her landmark work on the status of woman in Western philosophical discourse and in psychoanalytic theory, In eleven acute and widely ranging essays, Irigaray reconsiders the question of female sexuality in a variety of contexts that are relevant to current discussion of feminist theory and practice.

Among the topics she treats are the implications of the thought of Freud and Lacan for understanding womanhood and articulating a feminine discourse; classic views on the significance of the difference between male and female sex organs; and the experience of erotic pleasure in men and in women. She also takes up explicitly the question of economic exploitation of women; in an astute reading of Marx she shows that the subjection of woman has been institutionalized by her reduction to an object of economic exchange. Throughout Irigaray seeks to dispute and displace male-centered structures of language and thought through a challenging writing practice that takes a first step toward a woman's discourse, a discourse that would put an end to Western culture's enduring phallocentrism.

Making more direct and accessible the subversive challenge of Speculum of the Other Woman, this volume-skillfully translated by Catherine Porter (with Carolyn Burke)-will be essential reading for anyone seriously concerned with contemporary feminist issues.

$31.91

Quantity

2 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 222
Edition: Reprint
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: 10 May 1985
ISBN 10: 0801493315
ISBN 13: 9780801493317

Media Reviews

Psychoanalyst and philosopher by profession, feminist by choice, and radical by nature, Irigaray is one of the most important women writers of contemporary France, with an armful of books since the early seventies, two of them now translated into English.

* The Antioch Review *

This Sex is complex, readable, and worth the effort it takes to make it part of what you know. It is a valuable step in disrupting phallic discourse and jamming the theoretical machinery itself.

* Perspectives *

The publication of these two translations is an event to be celebrated by feminists of all persuasions.

* Women's Review of Books *

Author Bio

Luce Irigaray, a trained, psychoanalyst, has two doctorates, one in linguistics and one in philosophy. Her books include Speculum of the Other, This Sex Which is Not One, and Ethics of Sexual Difference, all published by Cornell University Press. Catherine Porter is Professor of French at State University of New York College at Cortland.