Sexualities All books
Marie-Jo Bonnet
What Does a Woman Desire When she Desires a Woman?
From Madame de Sévigné to Pauline Delabroy-Allard, George Sand to Djuna Barnes, Simone de Beauvoir to Monique Wittig, not to forget Céline Sciamma or the 10% et Nina series… An analysis of the different faces of lesbian love over time.
Marie-Jo Bonnet
What Does a Woman Desire when She Desires a Woman?
The desire of women for their own sex is a subject that has been concealed and heavily censored since Antiquity. Yet it has constantly resurfaced throughout history - despite repression, denial and today's feigned indifference - and its existence is a historical and anthropological fact, whatever the dominant opinion may say. Marie-Jo Bonnet argues that lesbianism transgresses social norms and female stereotypes, and breaks with the phallic model and the restricted social role that is assigned to women even today. She sees lesbian desire as a radical instrument of emancipation and offers an original analysis of the women's liberation movement, of recent discussions about homosexuality and, finally, of the persistence of lesbophobia. Desire, regardless of its subject, is always a unique and complex experience, and Bonnet does not ignore this fact. In an original, wide-ranging study of lesbian love through literature, she delves into the work of such major writers of the past as Marguerite Yourcenar, Violette Leduc, Simone de Beauvoir, Djuna Barnes and, surprisingly, Madame de Sévigné, as well as of more recent writers such as Monique Wittig, Anne Garreta and Christine Angot. The author's thesis is that women's desire for their own sex can serve as a tool to empower them to conquer their own space of creativity and liberation. Marie-Jo Bonnet, a writer and historian, is the author of Les Relations Amoureuses Entre Femmes (XVIe-XXe siècle).
Léo Bersani
Homos Reassessing the Identity
What does it mean to be homosexual today ? Is it necessary to form communities and if so, why ? Is the primary aim equality in society such as it is, or the challenging of society itself ? Up to what point do homosexuals distinguish themselves ? Must there be a link between sexual claims and political dispute ? The gay and lesbian communities necessarily ask themselves these questions. On a wider scale, they also encourage a redefinition of the human being in contemporary societies. Already considered a classic in the United States, Homos presents an innovative, critical reflection on identity and the dangers in the withdrawal of a community from society. An expert in French literature, Leo Bersani is a professor at the University of California. He has notably published Baudelaire and Freud, and Theory and Violence.
Jacques Barillon, Paul Bensussan
A Criminal Desire
Jacques Barillon and Paul Bensussan show, on a European scale, the ravages caused by an overly psychological approach to the law. They resolutely denounce the extremes and excesses of the new moral and sexual order that is now being proposed for the general good. It will mean tolerating that the judicial system, primarily concerned with the victims well-being, will renounce enforcing the Law, with the approval of psychiatrists and psychologists. This is an indispensable and disturbing book that should help to awaken our anaesthetised critical sense. Jacques Barillon is an internationally renowned lawyer specialising in criminal law. Paul Bensussan, a psychiatrist, sexologist and legal expert, specialises in sex crimes.
