(Hetero)sexual Politics

Sexuality and sexual politics have been much debated over the last 20 years. Feminists, in particular, have been responsible for politicising the debate: pointing out how something that is usually regarded as private and personal is, in fact, a public and political issue. The very title of this book signals the debt owed by feminists to Kate Millett whose pioneering work in the field was first published in 1969. The arguments and debates have moved on since then, and, heterosexuality in particular can no longer be taken for granted and must, along with other forms of sexuality, be explicitly addressed. Discussing sexuality in a diverse range of contexts, from hetero-sensibilities on the Oprah Winfrey show to Women Warriors in the Gulf war, (Hetero)sexual Politics illustrates the diversity and excitement of debates about sexuality in Women's Studies and feminism today, and points to new paths for feminist analysis, thinking and action. This volume is divided into three sections: Analysing (Hetero)sexuality is concerned with exploring some of the complexities of the material aspects of sexual relations between men and women; Media Discourses of Sexuality contains analyses derived from women's magazines, television and newspapers; and Practicing Sexual Politics focuses on the reflexive awareness of sexual politics in the framing of methodological issues in research.