Rape play is a type of consensual, ritualistic domination and submission, developed and enacted in a sado-masochistic (S/M) sex culture, which involves the appearance of force. There are two feminist theories that can be employed in a feminist analysis of rape play: dominance/radical feminism and libertarian/"sex positive" feminism. Libertarian/"sex positive" feminism holds that S/M, including rape play, is potentially compatible with feminism because the power dynamic between a dominant/"rapist" and submissive/"victim" does not draw on either practitioners' actual social identity and the power it possesses or lacks. Dominance/radical feminism argues that gender, which is socially constructed, can best be understood as a form of sexualized domination and submission, so social identity could not be dissociated from power in S/M. My reading of guidebooks and narratives about rape play suggests that the dominance/radical feminist position is more accurate in the case of rape play, though not necessarily all of S/M culture. / by Megan Halena. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fau.edu/oai:fau.digital.flvc.org:fau_3708 |
Contributors | Halena, Megan., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Center for Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies |
Publisher | Florida Atlantic University |
Source Sets | Florida Atlantic University |
Language | English |
Detected Language | English |
Type | Text, Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
Format | v, 130 p., electronic |
Rights | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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