Quotable: Woman’s Pleasure

Lucy Irigaray, This Sex Which is Not One

Woman, in this sexual imaginary, is only more or less complacent facilitator for the working out of man’s fantasies. It is possible, and even certain, that she experiences vicarious pleasure there, but this pleasure is above all masochistic prostitution of her body to a desire that is not her own and that leaves her in her well-known state of dependency. Not knowing what she wants, ready for anything, even asking for more, if only he will “take” her as the “object” of his pleasure, she will not say what she wants. Moreover, she does not know, or no longer knows, what she wants.

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[I]n order for woman to arrive at the point where she can enjoy her pleasure as a woman, a long detour by the analysis of the various systems of oppression which affect her is certainly necessary. By claiming to resort to pleasure along as the solution to her problem, she runs the risk of missing the reconsideration of a social practice upon which her pleasure depends.